The Flood
by mynameislizzie
Summary: A mix of disaster movie and Naomily love story. Apart for over 3 years, they are thrown together for a party. Just as a large extra terrestrial object hurtles to Earth. There's more than one way to shake the scenery...
1. Chapter 1

**This one is dedicated to my very good friend and fellow writer, garden_nomes, who is a constant source of advice, good humour and (it seems) limitless talent. If you haven't read anything she's written...all I can say is "Call yourself a Naomily fan?" Take your pick, she's written some crackers. My current fave is 'Screamers', but they're all great. Go on...treat yourself.**

**Plug over, this one has been hiding on my laptop for weeks. I thought I had exhausted my taste for the apocalypse style story with Long Road. But this is kinda different. Sort of a mix between Noah's Ark and Waterworld with added Naomily. Try it and see. (Unless you're my number one story hater, in which case...do something else...) LOL.**

Emily

I hate Bristol. Grimy little parochial shit of a city. Full of losers, wannabe's and neverwillbe's.

I left here three years ago to go to Uni. After getting my heart broken so badly, I thought it would never mend. Betrayed, cheated on and lied to. Took me over a year at UEA to even think about another relationship. Thats the trouble with falling in love at 16. If the bitch wants to rip out your heart and stamp on it, you're too green, too unsure of yourself at that age to either fight back or just shrug your shoulders and forget her.

I wish I had more of my sister inside me. And I know THAT could have been phrased better. Before I flew the Fitch nest and broke away from my (very slightly) older sister, I could have dined out for 6 months if I had a tenner for every time some lamo drunk suggested I get my sister to join us naked in bed. Like thats ever gonna happen...

Katie is the straight one. I'm the gay one. Thats been true since she discovered her erection powers and I had my first sticky fumble behind the youth club with another 15 year old girl. She crunches cocks, I prefer muff. Although for almost 2 years, at 6th form college, I spent most of my time pursuing miss golden knickers Campbell, without getting too much action on the muff front. Well...alright...there were two epic shags but at least a dozen public cold shoulders, protests that she wasn't gay ( not even a little bit she said the last time she humiliated me in front of all my friends) and finally, when I'd had enough of her blowing hot and fucking polar, I memorably called her out in front of a cast of hundreds in the gym, one morning assembly. Maybe doing an impromptu rendition of her breathless moans at orgasm wasn't the kindest of things to do, but fuck it, she asked for it. Doug's megaphone helped...

Cook had howled with laughter. Effy smirked knowingly and my sister disappeared behind me, dying with embarrassment. Even Doug, our vice principal, dissolved into hysterical laughter before that cunt Professor Blood silenced him with a gimlet stare.

"_Oh yeah Ems...do it like that...fuck, your tongue babe...harder... Deeper...I'm Naomi Campbell, and I'm definitely __**not**__ gay..."_

You get the picture, I'm sure.

Result? Miss Iron Clad undies Naomi Campbell fled the building in tears, at last understanding how I felt about public slap downs, I got a final warning from Blood... (which was a total waste of time as we'd already got our A level results, and my two As and a B were guaranteed to get me into Norwich Uni whatever). and I travelled that weekend a few hundred miles and a good light year away from the bleach blonde who had tempted, captivated and finally embarrassed and cheated her way through my final school years.

Fucking Blonde Bitch, I called her as she ran out. My sister always said that I was the twin you'd better not fuck with. With Katie, it was the instant physical reaction. A few girls found out that the hard way. Fitch's are fit, right? With me, it was the slow burn, calculated revenge. As Naomi found out. Shagging me, then dropping me like a discarded wrapper once was bearable. Shagging me again, then ignoring me for 3 weeks before getting off with Cook at a party, while I was in the same building, wasn't.

I found out when Freddie let it slip Naomi was upstairs with him. I was used to her repeated protests that she wasn't gay by then (although both times we had sex, she came like a £50 firework AND returned the favour...) but the thought of that fucker Cook buried in her right now...virtually above my head was like my own fuse being lit. I flew up there, rapidly followed by my sister and an amused Effy. Neither of them were about to stop me, they just wanted to see the action. Collecting a foam fire extinguisher from beside the front door, I burst in on them just when Cook was about to seal the deal. He was crouching over a half naked Campbell, condom covered cock in hand. I hit the red button on the extinguisher and just let them have it. His dick wilted faster than a politicians promise. And Naomi? She shrieked, closed her legs with a snap (dunno why she bothered, I'd been a LOT closer to her fanny than that before...) and rolled off the bed sideways. Hit her head on the bedside cabinet on the way down too. Her black eye lasted a week.

After emptying the cold foam on them, I dropped the metal tube and left them to it...fuckers..

But like I said, despite my temporary bravado those two times, she basically fucked with my head for two whole years. I was totally, helplessly in love with her. I loved her eyes (God, those eyes) her crooked smile, the way she looked sideways at you sometimes when you said something funny. I loved her touch...the way she could get me wet just by biting her lip or smirking at a dirty joke. I loved her hands, such long, slim fingers..so good for...Oh fuck it, you get it, I'm sure. She had me, like no one ever since has had me. Lock stock and poor little trembling heart.

But no more. After a year at uni of pining, turning down dates and using study as my protective shield, I met someone. Someone totally different to...her. Amy is just the complete opposite to the Blonde Bitch. Not just because she's short, like me, and with natural blonde hair, cut into a messy bob. But personality wise too. She wouldn't take no for an answer, asked me out four times before I gave in. She chased me for a change.

And when I finally gave in?

She had... _has_, no problem holding my hand in public, kissing me in the street, making out in a corridor at a club (or the odd toilet either...although its generally a LOT more than making out in that kind of privacy...) In short, she's happy to just BE with me.

She says she loves me, and I believe her. As for me...well, I like her a lot. She's pretty, hot, funny and caring. And I might not have mentioned this, but she gives the best oral I've ever had...bar none. Quite a potent combination, huh?

Which is another reason to be pissed off about sitting on this train, just about to pull into Temple Meads. I _never_ come back here, not even in the holidays. Katie always comes up to London, which is half way between Norwich and Bristol. My cousin Kat has a flat in Southgate that she's rarely in. Does a bit of semi pro theatre around the country. So me and Katie crash there while we're in London, do some shopping and generally catch up on stuff.

But not this time. Pandora has gone and got herself engaged. Not to Thomas...he fucked off with some Mauritian tart in California after his scholarship bombed. No...she met this guy Dan last year, and old Panda has gone and said yes to his proposal. Hence the hen party invite.

So here I am, looking out onto a drearily familiar landscape of tall grey buildings and yellow construction cranes. It seems they'll never stop 'improving' the city centre.

And its still raining. It started last week, Friday, I think. And every fucking boring, monochrome day since, its kept going. Grey skies, low cloud and just...rain. I don't spend much time watching the news. Its all bad anyway. Wars, famine, oily politicians lying through their teeth about some new golden dawn of prosperity about to happen. But I had noticed the slightly concerned look on the weather girls faces every time they stood in front of a chart showing the continuous stream of Atlantic depressions heading our way. It seemed it was going to rain forever.

And of course, I happen to be stepping off the train here...fucking Bristol, with more than its fair share of stormy skies, even in a normal autumn.

I cursed as the first step off the Inter City landed my foot in a puddle. Not just your ordinary, everyday platform puddle. But an ankle deep, cold motherfucker of a puddle...about 10 feet long. Trust me to be in the carriage right opposite. No point in trying to get back on...it looked like there were a line of similar ponds all the way along the platform. People were doing the same as me all along the train. I gritted my teeth and let my other foot join its wet companion. Fucking Bristol...

Ten minutes later, Katie arrived.

Fashionably late, of course. My sister doesn't know any other way of making an entrance. But she'd changed a hell of a lot in every other way since those Roundview days. No leopard print. About a kilo less makeup and definitely no gruesome hair bows. No, these days, Katie is sophisticated, elegant and subtle...Yes, Katie Fitch Mark Two was a far cry from the brash overdone cock cruncher of old. Thank God.

But the biggest shock about her transformation was her choice of friends. Considering the fact that Effy Stonem had bashed her head with that rock during the 'shroom fest called Gobblers End...considering she'd rather eat a handful of Thomas's chillies than give the time of day to James Cook...and considering...well...considering that blonde bitch had broken my heart...the fact that Katie was on a day to day friends basis with them AND Naomi Campbell was a bit of a fucker to process.

"I thought I could at least rely on you to keep the bitch fires burning" I'd said sulkily when she owned up, less than a week ago. "She fucking hurt me so much Kay. How the hell did you two end up as best buddies?"

She sighed at my wounded expression.

"We're not 'best buddies Emsy" she shrugged "But after you flounced off to carrot cruncher land...I was left trying to pick up the pieces. Effy was in the funny farm after Freddie...well, you know. Cook was captured trying to rearrange the features of a barman in St Pauls after he refused to serve him, and Naomi was just sort of there..."

She tailed off.

"Sort of there?" I said nastily. "Bit out of character for the blonde bitch, no? She was never there for me, was she?"

"Listen Ems... I got the full story after you left...she..."

"Save it" I snarled "I don't want to hear how she's all fluffy and nice now. What did she want...to get the fucking complete set? Guys have been trying to get us to make a Fitch sandwich since we were 15 Kay... How did she do it?"

Katie growled, and I knew I'd overstepped the mark. Fuck, that peroxide cow always made me lose control...and not in a good way.

"No point in fucking talking to you like this, is it?" she grated "I sometimes have a lot of sympathy for her when you're behaving like a spoiled kid. Grow the fuck up Emily. She's been a good friend to Effy, and to me, while you've been off munching bumpkin muff"

She looked at me seriously.

"She's changed...like really changed".

I huffed and rolled my eyes, but non verbal gestures don't work very well on the phone.

"OK" I said, after a good 15 seconds of dead air "Point taken. Just don't expect me to give her big hugs and kisses when I get there. She's dead to me"

This time Katie snorted.

"What are you...Tony Soprano?" she laughed "You were teenagers. She was frightened to death about fancying you. You came on too strong, she couldn't handle the way she felt about you and she ran from it...it fucking happens, sis. You've changed, she's changed. Get the fuck over it. Anyway, you've got Anna...Angie?"

"Amy" I said tersely "Her names Amy, Katie, as you well fucking know. But she's in Scotland with her Dad next week, otherwise she'd be with me. I suppose Miss Denial will be with her latest stiff dick though?"

"Careful Ems" Katie sneered "It almost sounded like you were jealous just then. But no...she won't. She's fucking gay Emily...one of your lot... Not that she's been much for proper long term relationships after you left...but...at one time I thought her and Eff might..."

I nearly choked on a mouthful of coke as I sat on the bed.

"WHAT?" I gasped, when I'd managed to swallow "Effy fucking Stonem...cock cruncher of the century...how, when?"

"Oh, it never actually happened...,at least I don't think it did anyway... but Effy never was 100% anything, was she, apart from pissed and stoned. Her and Naomi had a flat together for a while...but about a year ago, I caught Effy coming out of Naomi's room one morning half naked and with definite bed hair. She said she'd been sleep walking, but I dunno..."

I nearly choked again. Effy and blond bitch...getting it on? Fuck me. I don't know who I was more surprised about...

"So they're like...a _couple_?" I said, hating how my voice had suddenly got whiny. I had Amy, for fucks sake, why should I care if the blonde bitch had finally admitted what I'd known all along. And lets be fair, Effy Stonem was tres fit, in a sort of heroin chic, wasted way. I'd never actually fancied her...but she had featured in the odd solitary fantasy, back in the day...but then, so had Lily Allen, so...

"No...at least I don't think so...but they're definitely close. More best buddies than fuck buddies?"

Katie could always reduce the most romantic ideal into something gynecological, so I left it there...

XXX

Fifteen minutes of sharing her fashionable but totally impractical umbrella later, getting soaked, we finally got a cab. Twenty minutes after that, we were almost there. Panda had roped in her ditsy aunt in the pre wedding celebrations. No one mentioned it, but the only memories most of us had of this house was via Thomas's vivid descriptions from back at college. He'd come here a few times, when he and Panda Pops first starting surfing and turfing, as she charmingly put it. The aunt, who was scarily like that woman who used to be on the TV...Maureen someone...had a fine line in home marijuana growing. We'd all sampled and sold her weed. It was top quality. I hadn't smoked a spliff since I left Bristol. It wasn't that I'd suddenly got prim about drugs, being at uni pretty much makes it compulsory to take chemicals. Speed for late night revision, Diazepam for sleep, MDMA for Saturday nights...no, it was more that I'd kicked smoking since I split up with...her...so I just never got back into dope. But being here, now, I had the feeling I might need the relaxing assistance of Auntie Elizabeth's special tea. I knew that Effy and Naomi were due here tonight. Bummer.

About three milliseconds after Katie and I got out of the cab, the big front doors (apparently rich people have TWO front doors...) opened and an excited Pandora sprang at us. She doesn't actually say bonkers or whizzer any more these days, but you could almost see the speech bubbles over her head as she searched for a more mature substitute.

"Emily...Katie!" she boomed "Fucking hell...you're here. Blimey, you look super fit Ems...I bet those girls at Norwich went ape for you"

Katie wrinkled her brow in distaste.

"Fucking hell Panda" she groaned. "Shout a bit louder, I think someone in Bath missed that"

But her tone was light. Not at all like the old, waspish Katie I remembered. Panda just grinned sheepishly and moderated her tone, a bit...

"Sorry Katie" she said "But Ems is looking good, yeah...Naomi's gonna...?"

She coloured as I scowled, then smiled apologetically._

Katie nodded as I let Pandora give me one of her bone crushing hugs. Being a Fitch, I was pretty much immune to bear hugs. My Dad has the patent...

"Oh, _you're_ looking good too Katie" my sister said sarcastically as Panda carried on pumping me for stories about Uni life.

"Sorry Katiekins" Panda said when I'd extricated myself from her. "But then, you always do...its like...compulsory"

Katie shrugged, partially mollified.

"And stop calling me that Pandora" Katie said deliberately elongating her name. "We're not 16 anymore...remember?"

Panda nodded, then looked up, puzzled.

"But you let _Naomi_ call you that all the time" she spluttered.

I saw my sisters ear redden as she ducked her head and picked up her overnight bag (it would have doubled as a case big enough for a fortnight in Benidorm for anyone else...).

I couldn't resist the dig.

"Katiekins, huh?" I snickered as Panda led the way in "You and Naomikins really are twister buddies now then, sis?"

"Fuck right _off_" Katie muttered before we got inside. I smothered a laugh. My sister was still not comfortable with piss taking, even all grown up.

XXX

Panda's aunt settled us into our room, a proper twin one, with two 3/4 beds and a view across the countryside. The house looked Victorian from the outside, but it had been modernized inside quite a bit. Maybe Cook had been right about the drug business being very lucrative. Not that it ever did him or Freddie any good. Last I heard, he was in Paraguay. Apparently his waster of a Dad bought a few hundred acres of land there back in the 70's. It must have been cheap, Cook's dad never had what you call a brimming wallet. Most of his money went across the bar. Except he never could drink in the Fishponds, our old college haunt. Something about Cook's uncle Keith 'cutting off his dick and preserving it in the pickled gherkin jar...' Charming...

Anyway, this land turned out to be worth a few quid to an oil company a year or so ago. Cook was out of prison by then and promptly fucked off over there to claim his inheritance. Cooks dad being at the bottom of the Bristol Channel by then. One too many drunken walks along the bank-side to his beat up old boat. Exit Cook senior.

Katie began to do her thing.

Which mainly consisted of filling every available space with her clothes. We were only going to be here for two nights, but you can't tell her...

I unpacked my single bag. A clean pair of jeans, four changes of underwear and a few tee's...oh, and my one and only LBD, complete with black killer heels for the party tomorrow night. I hung the dress up to let the wrinkles drop out. Never got the chance to wear it much in Norwich. Amy says I am only at home in my jeans and Converse and she's right. She also says she prefers me without clothes altogether, but thats another story. ...

I had a quick wash and brushed my hair. Looking at myself in the mirror I idly wondered if it would look good in red again...like it used to in 6th form. It started as a rebellion against Katie, but it kinda became my signature look. I remember Naomi running her...no fuck that, I told myself fiercely, no fucking trips down Campbell Lane. Moved on, got a real grown up girlfriend. New life, new friends, New Emily, right? Fuck the red. Brown it is then...

An hour later, I heard a car on the gravel drive. To make it even more obvious who was calling, I heard Pandora scream excitedly from downstairs. Looked like her mum's calming lessons failed to stick...

"Effy!...Naomi!" she yelled, pounding down the stone steps to greet them. Every sensible instinct in me was telling me to turn away from the window. I was only half dressed, the LBD still hanging on the door while I waited for Katie to vacate the bathroom (a thing only surpassed for boredom by 'Waiting for Godot') so I sort of half hid behind the chintzy curtains.

Effy elegantly uncoiled from the passenger seat and endured one of Panda's brutal hugs. No more heroin chic, apparently. Still with the smoky eye makeup, but in a simple and short electric blue dress, with a white jacket over it. Classy, I thought, reminding myself to ask her where she got it. She looked...

...and then I stopped looking at her altogether, and forgot everything my mind had been concentrating on before. Because the blond...b..._Naomi_, got out of the drivers side and walked round the Toyota (a Prius, inevitably) to where Effy was smiling grimly at Panda's continued grizzly hold.

I took in everything at once. Her hair was still blonde, but not so platinum. More dirty blonde, with what looked like expensive highlights. She had on a pair of blue skinnies with a tight cream v neck sweater, which emphasised her tits a treat. She looked beautiful... older, but..fuck, what was I _doing_, admiring the view? This was the bitch who broke my heart, remember. I scowled at her pointlessly. She was accepting Panda's assault by now, holding her friends shoulders and smiling indulgently.

Panda said something in her ear and I saw her face change from amusement to what looked suspiciously like fear.

Inevitably, she chose that moment to look up at the house. I started to retreat into the room, but the sudden movement made her glance straight at our window. Her eyes met mine. Even at 15 yards, I could see them widen as she recognised me.

Shit, fuck, bollocks were my only coherent thoughts. We stared at each other like charmed snakes.

It was probably only 3 seconds, but it felt like 30, before I forced myself to move back, out of sight. Just then, Katie came out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam and fluffy towels.

"Bathrooms free" she said unnecessarily "Are you going to...what the fuck is up with you? You look like you've seen a gh...Oh"

She grinned at me maliciously and walked over to the window, peering down at the drive.

When she turned back, she was still grinning.

"She's here then" she smirked "Nice to see you're well over her, Emsy"

I brushed past her on the way to the bathroom, scowling at her pointlessly. It never worked.

"Fuck off Katie" I said, but my voice gave me away, as always. That fucking bitch had done it again, set my pulse racing and my heart pounding. I'm _over_ her, I told myself uselessly...

XXX

A few hundred thousand miles away, in the frigid darkness of space, a small cosmic event took place. An asteroid, originally from the Keppler belt, which had once, millennium ago, been knocked out of its endless circling of the Solar system, came within a few thousand miles of a random comet. The comet was large, probably the size of a small island on Earth. But its size didn't really matter. The fact that its passing momentum added a fraction of a degree of difference to the hundred year ellipse that the anonymous asteroid travelled on its journey round space did...a lot.

A teenage boy in Welwyn Garden City spotted it first on his £500 birthday present telescope. All the expensive and high tech equipment on Earth trained upwards missed it. Just another anonymous lump of mineral and rock, the size of two football fields. Logged and discounted several times in the past as not dangerous, but that tiny change in approach angle was to have many consequences.

Scientists knew that it would happen one day. With millions of pieces of space debris, comets and asteroids to track, they knew one fine day, one would get through. A dozen Hollywood movies had predicted and dramatised the possibility. But in reality, they knew there was no Bruce Willis or Aerosmith to save them if a big enough chunk of rock hit us.

This particular chunk wasn't what they called a ELE (Extinction Level Event threat) anyway. It was too small. But hitting at 44,000 miles an hour and weighing thousands of tonnes, its effect would be felt everywhere on Earth just the same.

The kid in Welwyn phoned his dad at work. His dad phoned the authorities. The guy who took the call played a dead bat to his concerns.

"_All under control. Yes sir, we are aware of the object...no cause for alarm..Will pass harmlessly past us. The Government has contingency plans. Yes, thanks for letting us know" _

They lie...Governments. They always lie.

About the time that Emily Fitch was staring at her ex from the window in South Gloucester, officials were shepherding such worthy individuals as the Prime Minister and Chancellor onto hastily prepped military helicopters, bound for the Orkney's. Another helicopter was already ferrying the Royal Family up to Scotland. The fox was in the hen-house, and the chickens were being evacuated. Fast.

Above the North Atlantic, a pilot in a Los Angeles bound Airbus A380 turned his lumbering jet slowly, making the maneuver so his £10,000 a seat First Class passengers could observe the vivid orange streak in the sky to the North. He didn't know it then, but it would be the last conscious decision he, or his crew would ever make. His passengers would carry on sipping Krug until the blast wave scooped the plane out of the sky like a stray bug.

Impact came at 11pm, Greenwich Mean Time. The asteroid, burning fiercely from the drag effect of our atmosphere, hurtled down towards the ocean, hundreds of miles off the Canadian coast. When it hit the water, it atomised a billion litres of seawater in a roaring, hissing moment. It carried on down to the sea bed, displacing more billions of litres. Then on the sea bed, it impacted along a fault line running from north to south. Exploding, it buried what remained of itself into the gap between the tectonic plates. The steam from the evaporated sea water billowed up a mile into the sky. Ocean water rushed inwards to fill the hole. On the ocean bottom, the plates groaned and shifted. 300 foot waves swept outwards rushing towards the continents. Then the second wave burst from the centre of the boiling whirlpool. Ships perished in blast waves and charging water. No time to prepare. No time to make your peace with God. Just thunderous noise and crushing, steel hard walls of water.

All the events that followed sprang from that single, unstoppable impact.

A thousand miles away, Naomi Campbell bit her lip as Emily Fitch stared at her stonily, as they sipped their welcome drink.

Its going to be a long night, she thought. But God, she's still so fucking lovely...

She had no idea how long this night would turn out to be.

**Cliffhanger, moi? **

**Worth carrying on with? Do tell...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again. Glad to see at least a few people liked the first chapter. On with the story then...and thanks for the feedback and comments. Its appreciated. **

**I don't own Skins, but I'd leave a note on its pillow the next morning saying 'Lizzie slept here'**

Naomi

I didn't want to come. I really, _really_ didn't. But Panda was so insistent that I had to be there at her hen night weekend it was hard to refuse. Effy just shrugged when I told her about my doubts, enigmatic as always. So eventually, after a lot of pleading and a whole lot of knowing looks from my best friend, I said yes.

Which I was currently regretting an awful lot. Arriving in my car, I let Panda have her obligatory bear hug. Its like we hadn't seen each other for months, not 72 hours...but thats just her. Then she whispered (well, whispered is a bit strong. Pandora doesn't really do whispers) in my ear "Emily is here already"

I tried not to, but since when did my eyes ever obey my brain when it came to the younger twin? Even when I was doing my level best to ignore her at Roundview, usually following a recent heated encounter between us, my eyes would never obey. This was no exception...

I looked at the house, then saw a movement at the middle window upstairs. Yep...it was her, of course. I caught the flash of creamy pale skin and a black lace bra, before she pulled back behind the curtain. My head spun and the clenching in my stomach wasn't entirely unrelated to that momentary glimpse of her body... Fuck...I thought I could...

Effy looked at me in amusement, reading my every emotion instantly. God, I hate her sometimes, when she's not busy being my best friend and confidante. We are all unlikely friends really. Never were very close at school, none of us. Effy was too busy being mysterious and taunting/tormenting Cook and Freddie. Then me and Ems had our final bust up, Freddie got himself killed over Effy and Cook fucked off abroad, two steps in front of Bristol's finest. Emily disappeared to East Anglia after outing me to the whole school, Katie was recently back from being with some footballer or other and we just all gravitated together, like random molecules. Effy had her 3 month stay in the hospital extended to 6 months over the trauma of Freddies death and Katie started visiting her. Inevitably, we both turned up at the same time on one afternoon, and she was surprisingly OK with me. I think I was getting the benefit of her residual anger with her sister for just fucking off. So we all became 'friends'.

Effy and I got a flat together when they let her out and Katie was a regular weekend visitor. I found out she wasn't quite the vapid, shallow bitch she tried to be, and she found out that I had actually loved her sister, underneath the bluster. We had an armed truce, followed by a grudging respect type thing. Then after a year, we were like the Witches of fucking Eastwick, slagging off guys (and girls) who tried to get into our pants on the nights we spent in Bristol's many nightclubs. None of us were looking for a proper relationship. We'd all been burned in our own way. Me with the younger twin, Effy with the two boys and Katie with...well, lets just say the toilet doors in Bristol needed a new graffiti poster girl after that summer.

I even thought I was coming to terms with losing Emily. _Thought_ being the operative word. It was weird seeing her almost identical sister all the time, but quite therapeutic. With Katie being so determinedly straight, it was like I was friends with Emily's alter ego. We weren't the least bit attracted to each other, so it got a lot easier to deal with. I never forgot Emily, of course, but as she never came back to Bristol, I started to believe I could airbrush her memory put of my mind. She only occasionally revisited my mind, usually when I was horny and needed some solitary... relief. Its kinda hard to erase the sort of sexual memories _she_ left me with. Especially when that was probably the only time in my life when I actually got any pleasure out of sex. My brief experiments with boys were just...yuk...and after she left, the few times I got pissed enough to fuck around with another girl, it was always pretty unsatisfactory. Too many flashbacks of red hair and husky voices...

Well, it was all in the past anyway...I hoped. I even got drunk enough to make a move on Effy of all people. Her sexuality was always ambiguous, and she didn't say no when I drunkenly made a move on her after a party at our place. The sex was good. I don't think Effy knows how NOT to give good sex, but we both knew it was a one time deal. Neither of us wanted a relationship, especially one that threatened a real friendship. So we put it down to experience and never mentioned it again. I don't think Katie knew about it...but she did stay over in the spare room that night. I just hoped she was so pissed, she passed out and missed the breathless moans and squeaking bedsprings all fucking night...(OK, the sex was better than just so so...whatever)

Anyway...back to the present. And the present was staring me in the face. Not in a nice way, you understand? Emily Jane Fitch, looking drop dead hot in a green silk top, undone by too many buttons not to be deliberately provocative. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say that top was Katies...but whatever. The frequent flashes of creamy breasts, encased in a matching green lacy push up bra was _very_ distracting. Which of course was the point, wasn't it? Emily knew fucking well that I was having a monumental time keeping my eyes above chin level. I caught the sly grin she swapped with Katie when they came downstairs. I though chins hitting the ground was a cartoon thing, but I swear mine bruised itself on the parquet flooring as her tits bounced delightfully all the way down...

The fact that she also had on a skin tight pair of shiny black leggings only made it worse. I used to sneer at girls who wore such obvious crowd pleasers...I mean, for fucks sake, some are so tight you can see if they've shaved their fannies...but tonight, I actually saw the appeal. If there's an outfit around that screams 'shag me' louder than the one on Emily Fitches body, I'd pay money to see it. Of course, the fact that it _was_ on Emily Fitches body might have had something to do with it...

The introductions (why?) were made and endured by at least two of us. I smiled politely at Emily and tried not to be too obvious that _a:_ I still fancied her and _b:_ I really wanted to drag her off somewhere horizontal and screw the life out of her. We exchanged polite small talk and it was with relief that Panda's Aunt Elizabeth marched us off into the conservatory to partake in some of her excellent 'tea'.

The tea in question obviously being high quality, industrial strength marijuana tea...

The hard looks that Emily had been giving me since we met were getting milder by the minute. I think the soporific effects of the tea might have had something to do with that. She even mellowed enough to sit next to me, which did nothing to dampen my...well, my _dampness_, I suppose. Our hands brushed occasionally when reaching for the oversized 'tea' pot and I swear I felt her tremble too as the static crackled between us.

XXX

And then it happened. Panda and Effy were recalling a filthy story about the time a fifteen year old Panda asked Effy to show her how to...well, you know... and they got surprised by Panda's mum...practising...We were all giggling, even Aunt Elizabeth, and Katie was spilling her tea, she was choking so much at Effy's lurid descriptive powers.

It was dark outside...about 11pm as far as I remember. We'd all sat ourselves around the wicker table, me and Emily on the side facing out of the conservatory, Effy and Panda the other side, facing inwards. The other two were at each end of the square table. (I had initially stifled a giggle at Aunt Elizabeth's description of it as a '6 seater table'...memories of another, less welcoming table came to mind). I actually had plucked up the courage to nudge Emily with my elbow when she slopped warm tea on my wrist. Her face turned to mine and I saw a definite flicker in her eyes. A look that she had thrown me many many times back in Roundview. A look that said 'fuck it, fuck everyone else...take me somewhere and make me scream, Naomi'

I wanted nothing more than to turn the clock back to days past and do just that. I was probably two cups of 'tea' from lifting her onto the table and doing it there and then. I think we both knew that. The table got quiet as other people began to notice...

But something even bigger than an 'Emily moment' was about to steal the limelight.

The flash in the sky wasn't blinding...like you imagine a nuclear blast would be. I didn't know then it was thousands of miles away. But even if I'd known, I don't think it would have comforted me. I know from my physics classes that light travels at 187,000 miles a second, but even if it was a long way away, it didn't take a genius to work out it must have been a massive explosion to register all the way back to Gloucester. But no one was debating the scientific details then. Not for a long time afterwards, either.

The whole sky lit up in an orange and red glow. It flickered and died almost immediately.

"What the _fuck_?" seemed to be the popular question on everyone's lips. Aunt Elizabeth frowned and immediately stepped over to the small flat screen TV in the corner, switching it on.

"I think _that_ was something serious" she said solemnly.

"No shit, Sherlock" Katie replied tersely "I think serious might be an understatement. Maybe it was the dockyard blowing up...?"

"I think it was further away than that Kay" Emily said, her voice a little huskier than usual, although I wasn't sure if it was fear or the recent electric moment between us that was causing it.

"But there's nothing out that way but empty sea" I said pointlessly. The Bristol Channel led directly out onto the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean. None of us had any idea at that stage how right we were.

The TV flicked into life and Elizabeth started hunting for a news channel. She didn't have to search long. Suddenly the lame soap that was playing was interrupted by a serious looking newscaster.

"_This is an official Government announcement_" he intoned "_The British public need to brace themselves for the consequences of a major natural event. We understand that a substantial asteroid has impacted in the Atlantic Ocean some distance from the Canadian shoreline. We have reports that many vessels and aircraft have been lost in the immediate vicinity. There may be tsunami type waves inbound towards our west coast. The Government advise that you stay in your homes until further notice. We will continue to broadcast on all channels with updates on what you need to do. In the meantime, please do NOT panic...stay indoors and wait for further information. That is all"_

"Yeah, right" I said acidly "That's pretty much all the fucking information you'll get. I bet the politicians and Royalty are airborne right now to somewhere safe"

"You really think thats all bullshit?" Katie said sharply "They must know more than we do Naomi...perhaps you should park the habits of a lifetime and just do what you're told?"

"Naomi's right" Effy said without raising her voice "They won't tell us anything sensible. They're all about control. Stay indoors, lock your doors..._protect and_ _survive_...right?"

Her tone was bleak and sarcastic. We'd grown up without the nuclear threat our parents had as children, but I remember my mum showing me a leaflet that had been printed in the 70's about nuclear attack. It pretty much said exactly what the announcer had just repeated. Stay indoors, be nice little citizens and wait for instructions. It was bullshit then, and I instinctively knew it was bullshit now.

Just then, as if to emphasise the pointlessness of the instruction we had just listened to, the sound of hundreds of birds fluttering outside made us all jump. They were coming from the sea. Gulls, guillemots, terns, cormorants. I was no expert, but it looked like everything that could fly was spinning past us, heading inland. We were a good 11 miles from the Bristol Channel, but those birds weren't waiting around. Aunt Elizabeth's house was on top of a steep hill, but I had no idea how high we were from sea level. I looked at her questioningly and she caught on immediately.

"This is the highest point in South Gloucester" she said "We're almost a thousand feet up here, only Cleeve Hill is higher. I know the tame announcer said stay put..and if we lived in Bristol City centre, I'd say they were talking out of their slimy arses..."

Katie started to giggle at Panda's aunts language, but stifled it when we all glared at her. Not her fault really, the 'tea' was still working its magic on all of us.

"...but staying put up here is probably our best bet. If there's a big wave coming in, we're better off here than anywhere else...We have water, food and some stuff I hid away... "

The rumble started in the far distance. Sound travels at a fraction of the speed of light, so it was heard several minutes after the boiling, swirling mass of brilliance that disturbed the hen party. But it made up for its tardiness with volume. From a deep bass growl it grew in seconds to a banshee howl which made the whole group cover their ears in fear. On and on it went, until it seemed as if it would never stop. The windows in the conservatory shook...and so they rushed out into the garden, still holding hands to stunned ears.

And then came the shock wave...

Back on the East Coast of North America, just a few miles from the impact, no one was covering their ears any more. The wave had hit seconds after the noise of the asteroid shook everyone who heard it. Three hundred feet of solid, rushing water. Killing, brutal water.

People died.

Men died crying at the loss of a dear wife. Wives died weeping over a daytime soap. Children died in their front gardens, looking innocently up from their afternoon play. Young girls died in their bedrooms, in solitary ecstasy as a pimply boy finally answered their texts. Criminals died shouting for their guards. Policemen died arresting shoplifters. Elderly men and women died in hospital beds, pleading with doctors to end their suffering. Surgeons died cutting the last stitch that gave a sick baby the chance of life. A chance snuffed out a second later.

They all died in a single thunderous impact as the wall of water crashed on, obliterating homes, offices, factories and lives. By the time the water had started to settle, millions of lifeless bodies swirled in its inky, debris strewn depths. Nothing behind the wave survived.

And then the second, bigger wave hit...

XXX

Up above the Earth, another calamitous event was taking place. The asteroid had smaller, lighter children. None bigger than a London bus. Just fragments of itself, trailing round the cosmos with it for aeons. Without the pull of their parent and with a fraction of the mass, the fragments couldn't survive re-entry. But there is an awful lot of expensive stuff circling the Earth. Satellites, space stations, military cameras, burned out rocket casings...

And one by one, on their doomed descent into burning spheres as the atmosphere added glowing friction, a few rocks collided with man made machines. A weather satellite here, a communications hub there. Explosions, silent in the vacuum of space, began to multiply. The machinery broke up into shiny jagged fragments...which carried on travelling at the 55,000 miles an hour orbital norm...and impacted on other, bigger machines, helpless in their path.

Gradually, around the northern hemisphere, human voices were stilled, TV and internet images distorted and finally dissolved into static snow...and the Kessler syndrome began. Ironic really, as the scientist whose name identifies the birthplace of the asteroid is so similar to the one who named the devastating domino effect of multiple impacts of earth made objects in our atmosphere. Two things unrelated, now bound together.

XXX

Back in rural Gloucester, the impact of the asteroid strike was much, much less violent. But no less dramatic.

For now...

Gathered in the garden, overlooking the ornate knot garden below the ballustraded terrace, the small group of women watched in horror as a thin shiny line began to grow in the distant channel. Funnelled by the south coast of Wales and the north coast of the West Country, it grew before their unbelieving eyes. Unknowingly, they clung to each other for comfort. Pandora hid her head and hugged her aunt tight. Effy pulled Katie to her side and slipped her fingers between the other girls.

And Emily only paused for a fraction of a second before allowing Naomi's arms to enfold her from behind in a comforting embrace. An hour...no a minute before, she would have shunned anything approaching this level of familiarity, but she was scared... terrified. The familiarity of her ex's arms were too tempting to ignore. Together they watched the approaching wall of water over a thousand feet below.

XXX

Emily

"I...I have a girlfriend you know..." I said stupidly as Naomi hugged me tightly and tried to look unworried. Her face fell at that remark, and I cursed my own stupidity...Really Emily? Still scoring points, even _now_?... I scolded myself.

"I know Ems...Katie told me. She sounds really... nice...Amy, isn't it? I hope she makes you happy" Naomi said brightly. I could hear the lie in her voice...

We were staring at the thickening band of silver in the distant moonlight, like two little rabbits staring at the approaching headlights of the truck which was about to kill them.

"I think so..." I mumbled "She says she loves me...so...I...I..."

Naomi's face tightened and I looked away. Somehow, even now, I didn't seem to be able to stop hurting her.

"Well she would...you're pretty lovable, you know" she sighed, squeezing my arms for emphasis.

"Naomi...why didn't _you_, then...love me?" I said quietly, watching the water starting to burst the river banks in the distance.

She shuddered as the sounds of crashing concrete and metal came to us from hundreds of feet below. It sounded like every car in Bristol was being mangled.

"Loving you was never the problem Em..." she whispered "Being brave enough to admit it to myself was...I've always loved you...always...and now..." she gestured towards the horizon "As per fucking usual, I've left it too late to tell you"

I wanted to say she was wrong, that it wasn't too late. But the words wouldn't come. After a short pause, she sighed again and released me from the comfort of her arms. We stood stiffly silent, side by side, but suddenly miles apart.

The rolling thunder from the bottom of the hill slowed and died after what must have been ten minutes. There was nothing we could do except wait. Then Effy spoke.

"Maybe we should collect together anything that might be useful" she said in a that slightly detached way of hers "Torches, food, water...although we seem to have an excess of _that_ at the moment"

I smiled briefly at her attempt at humour, but any amusement was quickly extinguished when I realised that hundreds, maybe thousands of people had just died from our 'excess water' problem...

Panda's aunt split us up into groups. Me, Katie and Effy went to get warm clothing, torches and candles. It was obvious the power would be going out in minutes if not sooner. None of us fancied being up here without light. Below, it was now inky black, the water making a rushing noise as it swirled round the tree tops.

Naomi followed Elizabeth and Panda down to the cellar, where her aunt had a small diesel generator stored. They were also going to collect food from the now useless fridge. We might as well use what was available and likely to spoil. No one knew when we would get our next hot meal. I think the takeaways would be closed for a while...

We gathered again after 15 minutes, shivering slightly in the suddenly chilled night air. The water had brought a touch of iciness to the summer night. Odd that...

No one spoke much. We were all thinking of people left behind. I knew my parents and James were in Edinburgh, so I hoped they would be OK. Amy was at her parents in Aberdeen, so she couldn't be further from us here in the West Country. If this was as bad as it got, she would be fine. I realised with a lurch of guilt that I'd barely given her a thought tonight. Ever since we arrived, my mind had been filled with startling blue eyes and blonde hair.

Aunt Elizabeth broke out the cognac, which I normally hate, but we all needed a pick me up after what had just happened. We went up to the first floor and crowded onto the small balcony outside the master bedroom. The view was usually spectacular from here, but not tonight. Tonight, all we could see was inky blackness below and a glimmer of the horizon under the moonless sky.

Except that wasn't true. Not any more anyway. Between the sky and the land, covered in water below, another thin silver line started to grow. Bigger suddenly, and growing fast, it seemed to rush at us like an express train. Taller, thicker and topped with white flecks as it approached, I heard Panda cry out as we understood it was another wave. But this one was hundreds of feet tall, surely. Again I felt Naomi's arms fold round me from behind. She whispered harshly in my ear as the thunder from the charging wave reached us.

"If this is it...if I never see you again...just know this one thing Emily. I _do_ love you..."

She pulled me in tight and I closed my eyes. If this was it...I knew I didn't want to be with anyone else when it happened. Just before the wall of water hit the hill below us, I felt Katies hand slip into mine. My sister and the love of my life were holding me tight...

**And thats it for this chapter. An onrushing tsunami and a few frightened women...Review? Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Next chapter then. I have to admit, I've been distracted of late. Some good, but almost abandoned stories seem to have been revived, as well as some excellent new ones started. Maybe that nasty bit of hatchet work (aka review) by my chief story hater has inspired better writers than me to start again. If that _is_ the case, I'm the first to say hooray. I have no pretensions of being a quality writer. I do what I do, and if people like it...great. If not, they'll go and do something else. Its called democracy folks. I would never, in a million years, support the British National Party. But they have the democratic right to exist, yeah? Otherwise what's the point...**

**Anyway, thanks for the support. I do appreciate it. Honestly. Oh, and I don't own Skins...but I'd forgive its morning breath if it slept with me. So there...**

Emily

Suddenly the roar from below increased in volume dramatically. I could hear faint screams as people who probably thought they'd escaped alive, found out they hadn't. There was a tearing sound as large trees splintered and collided, and above it all, the ominous rush of fast water.

The wave impacted a hundred feet below us. We had scrambled inside and up to the attic level of the house. Panda and Elizabeth peered out of one half open Velux window, Naomi and I out of the other. Effy and Katie stood right behind us, all of us shivering in fright. We heard the initial impact and then the ground shook under our feet as if we were witnessing a Shuttle launch. On and on it went. Shuddering, crashing and roaring. Because it was so black now...every light in the West Country seemed to have just been extinguished... we couldn't actually see the wave. The feeble starlight was just enough for us to make out the outline of the ornate white balustrade over the formal garden a few metres away. And then suddenly, even the pale stone of that structure groaned, crumbled and disappeared. We could see the inky blackness of the wave spread over the grounds, rushing into the basement, then ground floor of the house and rising rapidly. There was no classic towering tsunami, just a thick black tide, almost like a shadow, creeping towards us.

We had nowhere else to go. Perched up here, twenty five feet above the ground, we just had to pray it had spent itself, reaching a thousand feet up this hillside.

There were no more screams from below. Any poor soul nearer to the impact than us was dead or dying. Naomi squeezed my shoulders as we watched the progress of the blackness. I whispered to her as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"I still love you too Naomi...but then you knew that, didn't you?"

She didn't answer, just squeezed harder.

We could hear some of Panda's aunts furniture being thrown about downstairs. The force of the water seemed unstoppable. Groans and shrieks from breaking wood and flung open doors filled the air.

We all exchanged fearful glances. There was nothing we could do...just wait for the water to engulf us. I felt Naomi squeeze me again and sighed to myself. So much time wasted, when I could have been with her. What had I been thinking …..

And then, just as the water began to fill the stair well below us, gurgling, debris riddled and stinking of God knows what, it just..._stopped_. Then there was a silence so profound, it seemed like the whole world had had its volume knob turned to zero.

Effy was first to break the quiet.

"I hate to risk being a smart arse...but I think its peaked" she observed drily "Look, the water isn't rising anymore"

She was right, of course. It _had_ stopped creeping up the stairs. The noise of its advance had completely ceased. Instead, as we strained our ears for any more bad news, all you could hear was the faint sloshing of liquid downstairs, like we were inside a huge water tank. Aunt Elizabeth opened the attic door and immediately spun back to face us.

"She's right...its receding. Not by much, but I think we're OK for now"

We shot each other relieved looks, but Naomi stopped us getting too complacent with a laconic comment.

"I hate to spoil the party, but we're still stuck on this hill, with about a billion tonnes of water inches from our feet. All that stuff we piled up to use downstairs later is gone...ruined. We've no food, no fuel and no communication. We're still fucked, basically"

"We're still alive Naomi" Katie said sharply "Lets start with the positives, huh? I know its the habit of a lifetime to piss on everyone's parade, but...?"

I felt Naomi tense as if to fire a volley back, but I squeezed her hand tight and pulled her towards me, shaking my head in mute appeal. Katie was right, we were alive at least, unlike hundreds of thousands of people below us. This was no time to be downbeat.

She glanced at me as I held onto her hand, smiling ruefully at my pleading expression.

"You're right" she nodded to Katie "Take no fucking notice of me...old habits, yeah?"

I smiled inwardly at that. At least there was some of the old, snarky Naomi still in there. Nice to know she hadn't totally changed personality.

"Right" Effy said, letting go of Katie's hand "What now then? Naomi's right about the situation in one way. We're alive, but the whole country looks like one big fucking lake right now. Even if the water recedes quickly, nothing much will be left to salvage...anyone know how to drive a boat?"

Blank looks all round.

Katie and I had been on a day boat on the Norfolk Broads once, but that hardly qualified us as sea dogs, did it? And there was the small matter of finding a boat. Not much call for one a thousand feet up a Gloucester hill...

It was Panda who made the most positive suggestion.

"Look, we can't _do_ anything right now. Its dark, everything is covered in water and we're exhausted. Why don't we take it in turns to get a bit of sleep? If another wave comes in, we can't do anything about it but watch it come. If not, it serves no purpose for us all to be completely knackered tomorrow. Me and Aunt Elizabeth can take first watch... right? "

She raised her eyebrow at her elderly aunt, who nodded. Panda smiled at us brightly. Bless her and her infallible optimism.

"Two hours, then perhaps Effy and Katie can do a watch...then Naomi and Emily. That should take us to 7 am. It'll be light then and maybe the water will have gone down enough for us to get help"

Apart from the fact that Panda had got through an entire speech without once saying bonkers or whizzer, it was just as surprising how easily we all found it to agree with her sensible suggestions. Aunt Elizabeth dug out some musty sleeping bags and blankets from an eaves cupboard and we paired off as Panda had suggested. Given what Naomi and I had said to each other just before the waves hit, you would have thought it wouldn't be awkward sharing sleeping arrangements. But you'd be wrong. We settled down onto the carpeted attic floor in the opposite corner to Effy and Katie, who opted to sit upright against the wall, wrapped together in a thick red blanket. Even after an apocalypse, my sister wasn't comfortable snuggling up to a girl, I noticed...

But I was too exhausted to care. As Panda and Elizabeth pulled up two collapsible chairs and sat in front of the windows, I fell onto the sleeping bag and motioned for Naomi to join me. Nothing else was on my mind but sleeping. Even four hours peace seemed like the best idea in the world, but Naomi sat awkwardly beside me, holding her knees, looking away.

"Get in Naoms" I said "Make the most of this...we might not get much rest tomorrow"

She looked away from me again, biting her lip. I knew what was going through her mind. This would be the first time we had shared a bed since I dumped her. It wasn't exactly my idea of a perfect reunion either, but my heavy eyes told me it was now or never. If she didn't get in, I would be unconscious in seconds.

"Get _in_" I repeated "You're safe Naomi...I only shag willing victims, remember?"

She snickered nervously, biting her lip again. In any other circumstances, that image would have led to a whole lot more than sleeping. But I really _was_ tired, and I certainly wasn't up for any public exhibitions of make up sex.

XXX

They said 4 hours, but it seemed more like 4 minutes when I felt Effy shaking me awake. Naomi, despite her initial shyness, had curled round me in her sleep, like a protective spoon. Effy, of course, despite our perilous situation, found it funny. She was kneeling beside me, smirking.

"Well, it might be the end of the world Ems" she grinned "But Emily and Naomi have made up...it could be worse, couldn't it?"

"Fuck off Eff...not funny" was my response. Might as well have kept my mouth shut. I was busted enjoying the snuggling and that was that. Having Naomi cuddle up to me in the makeshift bed had given me more comfort than a litre tub of Haagen Dazs.

I struggled to get Naomi's arms from around me, and after a few grumbles, she let me go. She always was adorable when she'd just woken up. Bed hair, sleep creases on her face, droopy eyes and all. Her face brightened when she saw me looking down at her. Just for a second, we forgot what had happened and why we were sleeping together here in the first place. Then she saw Effy kneeling beside me and her smile changed to a worried frown,

"Whats happened?" she asked nervously, unzipping the double bag and stretching her arms over her head."Is another wave coming?"

Effy shook her head.

"Nope...All quiet out there. Its just getting light...about 5 am, so you and Ems can take the last watch. Panda and Elizabeth are asleep over there" She pointed to the corner of the room, where Pandora was curled, sitting up in her aunts lap, like they were in a rowing boat. Both of them snoring quietly.

I raised a smile at the way Panda was clinging to her elderly aunt. I suppose when things are toughest, we hang on to what we know. Then it hit me. For the past few hours, I'd thought about a lot of things. But one of them wasn't Amy. A shiver of pure guilt rushed through me. My fucking _girlfriend_, and I honestly had hardly thought of her at all since I got here. Naomi seemed to have filled every waking minute with her presence. I didn't even know if Amy was alive. Suddenly my post shock euphoria disappeared. Playing house with Naomi was one thing, airbrushing Amy out of my life was quite another. I got up properly, not even looking Naomi's way. I heard her say something, but I ignored it. Instead, I saw Katie at the window and walked over to her quickly. She was facing away from me, staring out at the seemingly endless flat sheet of grey water covering everything as far as the eye could see. It might have peaked a floor below us, but it didn't seem to want to return from where it came from. Not yet, anyhow.

And it was raining...again.

Not just your ordinary, Bristol type heavy rain, but stair rodding, relentless fat drops. The sky was a monotonous steel grey, with no breaks at all. The clouds seemed to hover just above our rooftop, and the rain fell in squally sheets incessantly.

It was like a carefully composed monochrome photograph. Just shades of dull grey. The sky, the water, the pounding rain. I heard a stifled sob, and realised that Katie wasn't just looking, she was crying too. For some crazy reason it reminded me of one of those old Tamla Motown songs my Dad discovered YouTube could dig up...'_I wish it would_ _rain_'...Temptations, I think... Fuck knows why I thought of that.

"Kay...?" I said gently, breaking my own fugue.

My normally unshakeable sisters shoulders rocked as she cried quietly.

"They're dead..." she said bleakly.."_All_ of them. Mum, Dad, that little shit James...all dead. I know it"

She turned to look at me with hollow eyes.

"Don't say that" I said, as much to reassure myself as her "We can't know that. They're in Edinburgh, on the other side of the country and hundreds of miles north. The water won't have reached them there...and grannies house is on a hill too. I bet you they are worrying about us more than we need to worry about them. They think we're in Bristol...Christ...they will think..."

I realised that if they _did_ think we were in the city, they would believe we were definitely dead. I had no idea if they still had TV news up there, but surely...

Katie broke into my thoughts.

"None of the mobiles work. I've tried. All dead. The masts must be down...and the TV was in the conservatory..it will be destroyed, along with everything else down there. I've asked Elizabeth if there is a radio we could use up here, but she couldn't remember. Lets try to find something...anything we can use to find out whats happening out there. I haven't seen any planes or helicopters. Surely there should be something by now...its been hours since...?"

I shrugged. What could I say. She was right...no one had heard any sign of life outside since the wave hit. Not even the birds were singing. After a few moments of silence, we just linked our fingers and stood, looking out over the barren water scape.

XXX

After two hours of pointless observing (Naomi seemed to know I was troubled, because she just stood beside me, silent) The others gradually came round. I don't think my sister or Effy got more than an hours rest, but she insisted in scouring the cupboards for anything useful before sliding into the sleeping bag with Effy for a few minutes. She uncovered an old Roberts Rambler radio, with a huge PP9 battery inside. Unfortunately, it only lasted five minutes before expiring. Not that it was any use anyway. Static on all stations, not even a Government taped recording. Nothing...nada. We were alone.

Panda and her aunt collected some fresh rainwater from out of the window in a metal pan found in the cupboard...we seemed to have an abundance of that at least...and we splashed some on our faces, drinking a few sips each afterwards to freshen our mouths. That was the best we could do. My skin felt gritty and dirty, but I knew we were better off than anyone down in the valley, so kept my internal complaints to myself.

Finally, when everyone was awake and washed, we sat in the middle of the floor and had a talk about what to do. The water was receding. Effy had ventured down the stairs to the first floor. The water had dipped below the stairwell, but what was left was a stinking mess of damp and dirt. The water was polluted with endless debris and detritus. Branches, leaves, dirt from the garden, wicker furniture, smashed almost beyond recognition. And other...stuff. Bodies. Not human, thank God, but voles and birds and other small animals littered the stairs. The wave had killed everything in its path.

"So" Effy started after she got back and told us what was happening down there. "We're stuck, for the moment. We can't go any further than the bedrooms, and they're ruined. Nothing salvageable. Clothes, blankets, phones, everything gone. I'm open to suggestion, but I think there's not much point thinking about moving until the water goes down to ground level?"

General agreement all round. None of us were strong swimmers, it turned out, and anyway, where would we swim to. If this house was at the highest point in the area, we could be up here days before we could move. Which moved us on to the next point. Food.

The only thing up here was a packet of biscuits in Pandora's handbag. We all smiled grimly at that. Panda never did like being more than arms length away from sweet stuff. I remember her amazing tolerance for multiple donuts back at school. But a packet of bourbons was hardly likely to last long, was it?

"And it's not even _Garibaldi's_" Naomi sighed dramatically, which raised the most genuine laughter the house had heard for a while. I remembered vividly my ex's fascination for what Katie and I used to call 'dead fly biscuits' when we were kids. When I visited her house, there was always a half empty packet under the bed...Not that I paid much attention to what was _under_ her bed...more like what was _in_ it...

But seriously, a pack of bourbons would last us a day at best. Somehow we had to get help. As there was no sign of helicopters, planes or rescue, I suggested we were on our own, perhaps for weeks. We needed to get out of this place as soon as the water receded. But when would that be...and where could we go?

XXX

Actually, it wasn't as long as I thought. An hour after our fruitless 'meeting' Naomi came up from downstairs to report the water had quickly dipped below the ground floor. An hour later, we could see the ruined garden. Trees uprooted, Elizabeth's grand greenhouse smashed and levelled (no more home weed growing) and everywhere, evidence of the waters crushing power. Almost unbelievably, we found a torch that worked...thank heaven for wind up technology...and some tins of stuff in the soaking larder which, being unopened, would be fine to eat. I never thought I would enjoy tinned peaches and rice pudding as much as that day. It tasted like the nectar of the Gods, sweet, uncontaminated and, as we had dozens of tins to choose from, plentiful. We gorged ourselves, forgetting that it might be a long time before our next meal.

The water level was still going down, even though the clouds above us seemed to be trying to dump another tsunami on us from the sky. I'd never seen rain like it. Endlessly drumming on our heads and wet clothes. We managed to find some old green fleeces in a tied up plastic bag, and rushed upstairs to show Panda and her aunt, who had stayed up there to search for anything else useable.

Naomi went in the attic first. She stopped in the doorway, making the rest of us stumble into each other on the stairs.

"Naomi...for fucks _sake!_" I grumbled, pushing her in the back to make her move.

"Ems...wait" she choked.

I stood there on the top step, with the others behind me, trying to look into the room round Naomi's body. Then I heard Panda crying. I gently pushed my ex to one side and stepped inside.

Panda was on the floor, cross legged, cradling her aunt in her lap. It was obvious from one glance that the poor woman was dead.

"W..what happened?" I said

"She just... died..." Panda sobbed, stroking the mussed grey hair surrounding her aunts head. " I was talking to her and then she just..._died_"

Elizabeth's eyes were still open. Blank, unseeing, but open. I felt Effy come into the room beside me, and heard the small gasp she let out.

I'd never seen a dead person before, but I understood instantly that she had passed away. This was real, this was what the flood had done to other people.

"Panda" Effy said quietly "Elizabeth's had a heart attack, I think. She's gone now. Let me..."

And with that she moved across the room, subtly closing the woman's eyes with one hand whilst stroking Panda's cheek with the other.

"Come on sweetheart. Let us take care of her"

Panda just sat there, staring into space as we gently picked up the elderly woman between us and took her down to her own bedroom. Everything was soaked and ruined in there, but poor Elizabeth was past caring. We laid her on the bed and slipped a quilt over her pale face.

And now there were 5 little Indians...

**A short break whilst I finish the next chapter guys. I know its a bit short on drama and dialogue at the moment, but its coming. This chapter was needed to get to the next bit. Five left then. More mayhem to come...and maybe a bit of Naomily goodness.**

**Review? Very kind!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi again. And as its wet and cold outside today, it seemed appropriate for me to revisit this story! They didn't die in the tsunami, but things still look pretty bleak. Poor Aunt Elizabeth has gone to that great marijuana tea shop in the sky and the girls are up sh t creek without a paddle...literally.**

**So, Emily predictably got cold feet when she realised she had airbrushed her current girlfriend out of her life after the disaster, and poor Naomi is feeling hurt that she's being ignored again after being so supportive of her ex. More then...**

Naomi

Its been a bitch today...the whole fucking day. And not just because we're all wet, cold and frightened to death. OK, good points first... Finding those old fleeces in the attic cupboard was a bonus, and discovering a whole bunch of ragged but useable outdoor clothing in the main bedroom, wrapped up in one of those airline style vacuum bags was a _real_ treat. But thats as good as it got. Everything else we'd tried to save was ruined. Apart from the couple of dozen tins we kept after the binge on peaches and rice pudding, we had no fresh food at all. Water...of the fresh variety...isn't a problem. The fucking stuff keeps falling steadily from the leaden skies above. We collect a whole bucket load every hour. In fact, we've had to stop collecting it.

But the main reason today has been awful is Emily Fitch...you know, the woman I've pined for ever since she fucked off to Norfolk, taking my bruised heart with her? That Emily Fitch.

Suddenly, after we cleared the air last night...oh, and spent the night cuddled up like two little bugs in a rug...(something she always said she craved, back in the days when I used to flee any morning I realised she was still in my bed), she doesn't appear to be craving it, or me anymore. Not in the least. Emily and Katie disappeared off to see if they could contact anyone who could help us, first thing this morning without a word. A bit of a fucking pointless exercise really, as the water is still hundreds of feet up the hill and as far as the eye can see. The roofs of a couple of cottages can now be seen below us, but they'll obviously be in the same state as Panda's aunts place, if not worse.

But Emily seemed desperately keen to put some distance between us, so I just shot her a reproachful eye roll, before helping Effy and Panda in the gruesome task of wrapping her aunt in some plastic and old bed sheets. It seems cold blooded to treat her like this, but the practical side of us realised she would 'go off' pretty quickly in these wet conditions. Nowhere to bury her anyway, even if we had the strength or inclination to dig a 6 foot hole in the sodden ground outside. So we did the best we could.

Our little island kingdom in the new, expanded Irish sea is growing, but not by much. In the past 5 hours, the water has dropped maybe a hundred, hundred and fifty feet. But as it seems determined to rain incessantly, its not receding fast enough for us to get down to main road level.

The only minor good news is that Aunt Elizabeth was a true hoarder. Carrying her body into the shed in the back garden, we found it was a treasure trove of stuff. Tools, storm lamps, cutlery, china, wind up radios...oh, and best of all, about a dozen sealed plastic boxes, tossed about by the water, but otherwise intact, containing waxed matches, signal flares, two little Calor stoves, a couple of wicked looking survival type knives in sheaths, loads of tinned tea, coffee and sugar. Enough for us to fire up one stove and brew up some much needed hot drinks. When Katie and Emily finally came back, mostly empty handed apart from a couple of sodden maps, I smothered my 'I told you so' expression and held out a mug of steaming, heavily sugared tea for each of them. Katie beamed cheerfully and thanked me. Emily just nodded briefly and turned away to drink hers. My face must have told Katie how much that stung, because I heard her whispering fiercely in Emily's ear as they walked back to the house. Effy too noticed, and gave me a sympathetic hug as I drank my own tea.

"Listen Naoms" she said gently "Give her time. I know it seems like one step forward, five back, but I'm guessing the cutest twin has suddenly got a twinge of conscience. This Amy girl is up north, probably, but not definitely OK, but Ems is still worried about her...and guilty as hell that she's 'cheating' on her with you.

"We haven't fucking _done_ anything! " I said, too loudly, prompting everyone in earshot to shoot me anxious looks. "For fucks _sake_" I carried on, lowering my voice to a harsh whisper "All I've done is to be there for Ems...that's all...we all nearly died last night, Eff"

Effy looked at me seriously.

"But that's not all you _really_ want from her, is it Naomi?" she said "Lets face it...there's enough electricity generated when you two are in the same room, to power a small town. Be honest...tell me you haven't thought about trying again with her...if and when we get out of this mess?"

I shrugged hopelessly.

"I've thought about nothing else...but that's hardly the point, is it? Its highly likely none of us will get out of this alive. We're stranded up here...with about 2 days food max. Even if the water goes right down, we don't stand much chance of surviving. It'll be a gloopy, corpse strewn mess down there. The Government will prioritize themselves...that's if there actually _is_ a Government left. We could be stranded without help up here for weeks, even months, if we live that long. Getting back with Emily isn't really a priority at the moment...but I don't deserve the cold shoulder from her either"

"Deserve has got nothing to do with it..."Effy sighed, then smiled at me, a bit brighter "Look...let me have a word with he..."

"_No_" I said sharply "We have other problems to solve. If she wants to give me the ice queen treatment, fuck it...life's too short. Lets get on with saving our arses"

Effy just smirked knowingly and moved off with her black tea. Never could fool her about my feelings...or anything else.

_A year before._

_"Fuck's sake Eff" I slurred, trying to get the key in the door of our apartment. She kept giggling and goosing my arse as I tried to focus on the two locks we seemed to have acquired since we went out that night. I was sure there was only one when we left..._

_"Great arse Campbell" she laughed, grabbing a handful as I tried ineffectively to swat her away with my spare hand._

_"I swear I'll.." I grated, finally getting the key to fit and pushing the door open "...you've never shown any interest whatsoever in my arse before, Stonem. Could it have anything to do with that last tab of E you necked just as we left the club?"_

_"Could have" she smirked "Doesn't mean you don't have a great arse Naoms"_

_And grabbed me again._

_I sighed and pushed her inside, getting her onto the couch before she veered off towards our dwindling supply of spirits. Effy had a prodigious capacity for booze and drugs, but we'd had plenty of both tonight already. Ecstasy might make you horny, but it didn't usually involve Effy touching me up. Her normal trick was to (very unsubtly) direct me towards some random girl in a club and try to get me off with her. There was a lot of self interest involved, mind you. By the end of the evening, she would have already selected her victim for the night. Some hapless Joe with chiseled looks and enough sobriety left in him to take advantage of what she was offering. Which was always and only a frantic shag against some alley wall. She never brought them back to our place. On the rare occasion I gave in and allowed a girl to pin me against a similar wall, that was my modus operandi too. A clinical finger fuck, no kissing and definitely no phone number exchanges afterwards. If I was lucky, the random was skilled and I could gasp my gratitude over her shoulder as my body clutched at her fingers. If not, I would get her off, wiping my fingers on my skirt afterwards and masking my disappointment with sarcasm. Hit and run artists, both of us._

_I know, it sounds sterile, doesn't it? But that's what having your heart ripped out at 17 does to you. Self inflicted in my case I know, but still..._

_But tonight, Effy had obviously decided it was a torment Campbell night. She'd tried to snog me in the taxi home. Apart from a deep determination not to give the driver a free show, I wasn't about to succumb to a half arsed lesbian seduction from the hitherto straight Elizabeth Stonem either. I knew Effy's sexuality was pretty fluid, but I had enough trouble forgetting a pair of deep brown eyes. I had no wish to replace them in my occasional masturbatory fantasies with her startling blue ones..._

_But Effy had other ideas. _

_"Whats the problem Naoms" she drawled, raking my body with hungry eyes "Its not like we're cheating on anyone. We're both young, attractive bisexual females. Unattached and horny. Whats wrong with us shagging, anyway?"_

_I grimaced at her. Bisexual...since when?_

_"Have you got a long piece of paper and a pen?" I growled in frustration, trying to avoid getting any closer to her grabby hands._

_"You...straight girl...Me still broken hearted over a small red head, remember?"_

_"Ducking the question again" she grinned crookedly, and starting, shockingly, to unbutton that excuse for a dress she was wearing. "I'm horny...and fit...and...you?...you haven't had it for **weeks**"_

_"Stop it Eff" I groaned. Her naked pert tits were now fully in view. I wished to fuck I'd never downed that last E either. I felt my stomach...and other places...clench as she gave me the puppy dog eyes and cupped them suggestively. She was right, she **was** fit._

_"Wouldn't you like to play with these all night" she said slowly "I've got really sensitive nipples...you'd only have to...oh" she whispered, jerking as her own thumb and fingers rolled them nimbly._

_The warmth between my legs flared hotter. Jesus, now she was completely naked to the waist. In the dim light from the table lamp, she looked simply stunning. Her pupils were huge and those fingers were still teasing her small tits. Without thinking, I licked my lips hungrily._

_"Come here Naomi..." she breathed "and I'll make you come so hard, your fucking teeth will chatter"_

_Fuck me if that wasn't the hottest thing anyone had ever said to me. I tried one last time to stop it happening, but my feet were already betraying me...moving my body towards her._

_"B...but what about Katie?" I mumbled, remembering that she was asleep in the spare room, staying overnight before driving to Scotland in the morning._

_"Asleep" Effy said simply "Get over here now..."_

_I walked slowly towards her and as I got to the couch, she stood up. The shift dress she was wearing whispered inconsequentially to the floor. Underneath, she just had on black holdups and the tiniest black lace thong. I swallowed hard. It had been weeks since I touched another woman, and that was just a brief and fierce finger fuck against some pub toilet wall. Effy looked like a pocket Venus, with her tumbling dark hair, incandescent eyes and smooth skin. My mouth dried completely._

_I touched her face gently with my open hand._

_"Effy...this is really bad..." I started, but she moved closer, her breath warm on my cheek as she leaned towards my ear._

_"...but inevitable" she whispered in my ear and cupped my face with both hands. The second her cool lips touched mine, I was lost. Too many long months of abstinence, too many times hammering out sterile self abuse and unsatisfactory orgasms in my lonely bed. I needed something... something... more tonight._

_"Jesus Christ" I sighed, just as she closed her mouth over mine and hunted for my tongue. The kiss was long and tender. Not at all what I expected. I whimpered into her mouth as her lips lazily toyed with mine. My arms closed round her slim body and I moaned at the sensation of warm bare flesh in my arms._

_"Bedroom...now" she said, releasing my mouth reluctantly. "I want us both to enjoy this"_

_I followed her into my room obediently, closing the door behind us firmly..._

_XXX_

_When I came, it was with a hoarse, desperate cry that echoed off the walls. All the frustration, all the self denial let out in one explosive moment. She was a skilful and inventive lover. If she'd never gone down on a woman before, it didn't show. And afterwards, when I lay gasping, legs still twitching slightly from the aftershocks, she took the time to kiss her way up my body, sucking my nipples one at a time before kissing me thoroughly. The taste of my own excitement was enough to make me shudder again. I flipped her over and moved lower...her eyes following me as I dipped my head between her legs. She was as delicious as she looked._

_When she came, it was almost silent. Her legs were flexing and shaking, and the small muscles in her stomach rippled as the spasms shook her. Her mouth was open, but apart from fast, frantic breathing, she didn't make much noise. So like Effy, undemonstrative, even in the grip of la petite mort. I smiled up at her, relishing the sweet taste in my mouth. It had been too long, too fucking long. Who had I been kidding at Roundview with my cock cruncher protestations? I was as gay as the fucking proverbial._

_That wasn't the end of it, not for that night, not for hours. We rested comfortably, side by side, smoking a calming spliff, before going at each other again...and again...and again. When dawn broke, my voice was raspy with overuse. She kept her promise, she DID make me scream. My bed springs never recovered. A week later, I had to order a new one from the furniture shop down the road. I'd never been fucked so comprehensively._

XXX

No one ever knew about our little 'experiment' and we never repeated it.. But it did the trick. Whatever spell had been cast over me by Emily Fitch was suddenly but temporarily lifted. I started looking at women again properly, noticing the odd come on I got at work from the pretty girl in accounts and on the Tube, when a businesswoman eye fucked me over her Starbucks. It felt like I was alive again after months, no _years_ of being in a misty, frozen trance. I was over Emily Fitch.

Or so I thought..until last night.

XXX

The rest of the day passed slowly on 'Bristol Island'. We agreed to stay where we were for one more night at least. Still nothing on the radio, not even a recording, so we made the best of it. We salvaged what we could from the vacuum bags, and ended up with three useable makeshift beds. The double sleeping bag I had shared with Emily last night I passed to Katie.

"Here Katie...you and Emily can share this tonight" I said tersely "Wouldn't want me to lose control and show compassion, would we...?" I finished, seeing the tips of Emily's ears redden as she bent her head away from me. It was another cheap shot, but I was feeling bruised after being comprehensively blanked all day. Katie took it with a small sigh, for once omitting a sharp response. Emily followed her out of the room without speaking.

Effy and Panda snuggled down under a single quilt, on a bed made up of old clothes.

I settled for the airbed we found in the small garage outside. Pumped up, it was reasonably comfortable and with one of Aunt Elizabeth's stored fur coats over me (I sent up a prayer that my mum would never hear about me sleeping under a slaughtered animals skin...) I thought I might get a couple of hours rest.

Dusk came quickly in the continuing heavy rain, so after cooking up some tinned soup between us and polishing off Panda's bourbons, we doused the Tilley lamp and tried to get some rest.

XXX

Almost dawn...and it was _still_ fucking raining. I slept fitfully for a bit, but woke up several times before finally giving in and sneaking out into the garden for a smoke. I've only got 8 Benson's left. A bit crumpled and anyway, I _swore_ I was off coffin nails, but fuck it, cancer is the least of my worries now, so I broke my 'no fags unless its a crisis' rule and enjoyed my solitary nicotine fix untroubled. Well, thats not entirely true. I am troubled, but not because I'm concerned about my physical health. Mental?...yep

I'd sort of decided overnight that anything concerning Emily Fitch has to take a distant back seat to simply surviving right now. I'd probably never admit this to Effy, but I actually agreed with her analysis of whats going on. Emily is riddled with guilt for snuggling up to me...her ex...while its entirely possible her current girlfriend is floating face down in the cold water of the North Sea. None of us know if the effects of the waves are localised or nationwide. The fact that we have no power, no radio signals and fuck all aircraft activity from the state, all points to a bigger natural disaster than we're aware of right now. The tsunami's were supposedly caused by the asteroid strike, but it might not be a lone impact. Why were there no satellite signals? OK, modern communications depend on _some_ cables to work, but there was nothing from up above us at all. Not on digital, FM or long wave. We checked them all. Nada...just static. Not even a foreign language station.

After I had my cigarette, I snuck back inside and had another try at sleeping. It was no good. I seem to be surviving on pure adrenalin at the moment, I couldn't get my mind to stop working, even though I was dog tired. Eventually, when the first dull light of dawn crept across the room, I sighed, got up again and made my way quietly downstairs. We'd rigged up a makeshift 'boiler', with one of Aunt Elizabeth's antique metal water tubs in the outhouse. Filled with water from the rain buckets, we'd put it up on a few stray house bricks and placed one of the calor stoves underneath it. It would take forever to heat up, but at least we could strip off and have a warm wash...eventually. There were umpteen bars of shrink wrapped Dove soap in the bathroom.

Unfortunately, when I got to the outhouse, it looked like someone had beaten me to it. The little stove was roaring noisily under the metal tub and it looked like one of the others had been up an hour at least, as the water was bubbling hot. Fuck it I thought, I was looking forward to a wash this morning. I pushed open the cubicle door, expecting to see Effy smirking at me for having the idea first. Wrong.

Standing with her back...her _naked_ back...to me was one Emily Jane Fitch, large as life.

"Oh...fuck...sorry" I muttered, starting to turn away.

I stood with my back to her, expecting a sharp rebuke or something cryptic. Instead there was just silence. Then I heard a small, muffled sound. She was crying.

I turned back to see her standing facing me, with her arms crossed across her breasts. She only had on a pair of flimsy blue knickers and my brain immediately went into default lust mode. "_Emily Fitch. Naked. Here_" kept repeating in my mind. I shut it down immediately when I saw her face crumple miserably. Her crying got louder. Fuck, I thought desperately...I just want to make her better...is that so wrong?

So I did.

I stepped closer and took her gently in my arms. She gripped me with her small fingers digging in around my waist, and sobbed hopelessly onto my shoulder. God, she felt good in my arms.

I did the usual "_shh...its OK...things will work out_" stuff and stroked her hair gently. I wished to God my libido wasn't so easily distracted by her proximity however. Half of me wanted to comfort her like a good friend should...the other half wanted to bend her over the cubicle table and have my wicked way with her. It was always like this when Emily cried. I always had this dilemma. Hug her or shag her. In the old days, one usually led to the other anyway, but now?

Eventually, her crying slowed and she pushed back from me, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. Unfortunately, she failed to realise the effect _that_ would have on me when she did.

I tried, your Honour, honestly I did. But forcing my eyes to stay on her own red rimmed ones was physically impossible. She caught the dip and widening of my eyes and her face turned from vulnerable to angry in a second.

"I'm crying because my whole family,...and my fucking _girlfriend_, who I love by the way...might be dead, and your first thought, Naomi, is my _TITS_?" she hissed.

I blinked at that. OK, it was partially true, but it wasn't quite as cold blooded as that, was it? I _was_ concerned about her, worried about her, but honestly? Emily Fitches naked tits... inches from my hands, my mouth. I'm only human after all...

I went through a number of emotions, standing there as she fumed, back in arms folded mode. Guilt, embarrassment and surprise amongst them. But I ended up back with my old, safe, friend _anger_. I know it was wrong to be pissed at her, but fuck it, I had really _tried_ to be supportive. How was I to know she would get quite so fucked off with my quick glance at those perfect objects of lust?

"Look Emily" I said coldly "I'm sorry that my absolutely normal instinctive response to a naked female body upsets you. _I'm_ worried too, in case you hadn't noticed. My mum and Kieran could be dead as well. You send so many mixed signals, I have no fucking idea how to behave around you. One minute you're all "Oh Naomi...I still love you..." the next you're treating me like a leper with Ebola virus"

She blinked a bit at that and covered herself even more with a hand towel. My libido booed at the loss of that view, but I deliberately kept my face straight and my eyes level with hers. _Once_ was an accident...twice...?

"Its OK Naomi...I understand" she said flatly, in a voice anything _but_ fucking OK.

"I know I'm all over the place at the moment...but its just not _right_...you and me...like this...I've got a..."

I interrupted her.

"…girlfriend...fine...I get that, seeing as you've told me a hundred times. You and me...? finished...I understand completely. Well, I hope you find Saint Amy and can go back to your perfect life with her, I really do. I'm sorry for caring about you. You can just go back to calling me _that_ _fucking blonde bitch_ again...isn't that my nickname nowadays?"

I saw surprise and a certain amount of guilt in her eyes. But I was on a roll.

"Yeah...someone told me about that little bit of nasty slander. Nice, Emily...classy.."

I thought for a minute she might apologise. But apparently that Emily Fitch was gone now.

Her face set in that annoying self righteous frown I remembered all too well from Roundview. The one where her disapproval over me fucking up over something was written all over her. It just made me more determined to have nothing more to do with my ex. Our lives could be finished in hours and here I was, obsessing about a pint sized brunette with missing girlfriend issues? What the fuck? My patented Campbell defensive walls erected themselves securely around me. Back to default mode, then.

"In fact" I said icily, burning bridges being my specialty "Fuck _you_, Emily...As soon as we can all get out of here, I suggest you travel in the opposite direction to me. I don't want to spoil your reunion with whatever her name is anyway...and I definitely don't want to play these games with you anymore. I'm sick and tired of apologising for being a loser at 17. I'm all grown up now...see?"

I waved my arms down my body, daring her to disagree.

Her eyes widened at my tone, but she didn't say another word, just bit her lip and stared at the wall. I spun on my heel and marched off outside. Another cancer stick beckoned...

XXX

A thousand miles away, things were happening that would change a lot of lives even more than the waves...

The asteroid had struck in a weak spot between two Atlantic oceanic tectonic plates. The impact had accelerated a shift which otherwise might have not happened for another ten thousand years. Gradually, the two enormous masses restlessly ground against each other like two huge wrestlers fighting for dominance. The metallic sphere of the rogue asteroid was crushed like a grape in seconds. But the plates continued to move. And other plates, relying on the pressure of these two to remain stable, began to move and collide too.

One such shift took place between the islands of the United Kingdom and the continent of Europe. First, slight tremors were felt in the north of Scotland. Then some violent shaking. Then an earthquake bigger than the continent had experienced in a million years heaved the landmass upwards and sideways. The waves created by these quakes immersed the Eastern coasts of Britain and Europe. Northern France and the Benelux countries disappeared in a crushing, boiling tide of water and mud. Brittany shuddered and broke apart under the intense pressure.

When the plates settled, hours later, a whole new landscape had been created. Great Britain was fifty miles west and south of its original position. Once a group of islands 26 miles from the coast of Normandy, it now sat alone in the Bay of Biscay, shattered, broken and silent. Ireland disappeared under the water completely.

The population of the Eastern coast of Britain were gone. London, East Anglia, Humberside and the North East had succumbed to the waves and quakes. Everything east of Swindon was now under water. Everything north of Wales was broken and fragmented into small islands.

The collisions and tremors reduced the majority of the landscape to rubble. Only the Cornish peninsular, Devon and Avon were relatively untouched. The few people left alive in that pocket, like Naomi, Emily, Katie, Effy and Pandora, were stranded on small island peaks of land, hundreds of meters of sea between them.

XXX

Emily

The first inkling we got that something huge was happening was when we were all in the garden. The rain had stopped, probably for the first time in 48 hours and we were trying to dry out anything possible. After my early morning bust up with Naomi, I carefully avoided any contact with her. It wasn't easy, only having about two football pitches worth of land to do it it in, but I managed. I'd got a full on ear bashing from Katie, when I told her what had happened. She wasn't impressed with me at all. For once_ I_ was being the 'cow' apparently.

If you asked me flat out why I was being such a cold bitch to Naomi, I would have found it hard to tell you. She'd been nothing but nice to me since it all went to shit around us. Spending the night in her arms was about the best thing I could remember doing in a long while. But the guilt next morning was crushing. Poor Amy. She would definitely be in danger, wherever she was now. And what did I do? Spend the night cuddling up to my significant ex, whispering words of love, thats what. The only way I could make it right to myself was to keep my distance from Naomi. This mornings little accidental meeting just made it worse. Again, I had found myself melting into her arms, crying on the shoulder I had no right to be leaning on.

Her eying my body was a convenient smokescreen for me to hide behind. Since when did I ever get upset about her ogling my tits? Never, thats when. I would have killed for that look not long ago.

But my anger at _myself_ flew out and scorched her too. That comment about her nickname stung. I never meant it, but it came back to haunt me.

Not because it wasn't true that I'd christened her that...but because it could only have got to her from either Katie or Effy. I thought I could rely on my sister above anyone to have my back. What else had she confided in the bitc..._Naomi_?

So now we were further apart than ever. Emotionally, if not geographically. What she said about traveling in opposite directions frightened the shit out of me too. There are few enough of us left alive, even if this is as bad as it gets. One less person, or two if Effy backs her decision to split, and we're pretty fucked. Five girls on our own are vulnerable enough, any less and we might as well hang out a sign saying '_Rapists and Murderers Welcome...helpless females this way'_

Thats if there are any rapists and murderers left alive. Which seems debatable.

And then the ground under us started shaking again. Not like those pictures you see on Japanese TV of people ducking under desks when a tremor comes. No sir...this was like being on top of the worlds biggest washing machine. And the controls were set to maximum spin...

XXX

Naomi

When the shaking and the thunderous noise finally subsided, it looked like our refuge had turned into a bomb site. It was just pure luck that we were outside at that moment. Effy had used the other camping stove to cook up some tinned meat and beans from our dwindling supply. I was sitting next to her, on my towel, to stop the sodden grass seeping into my jeans. Katie and Emily were sitting opposite us, cross legged on a piece of plastic liberated from the garage, trying their best to pretend I wasn't there and Panda was... Hang on, I thought, as we stumbled to our feet, the ruined meal forgotten on the floor...where IS Panda?

Effy must have had the same thought as me. She jumped up, turned to face the house and just started screaming. I mean _real_ screaming. I don't ever remember Effy even raising her voice before. She was the Queen of Cool at school, college and beyond. Effy simply didn't do noisy. Even when she was going through her worst phase after Freddie, it was always more the quiet desperation thing...

But this was different. Panda and Effy had been friends way longer than any of the rest of us had. Since infants school, I think. Their parents knew each other and stuff. I saw real agony on my friends face as she stared at the pile of rubble previously known as Elizabeth's house. Then Effy stopped screaming abruptly. She just stood there and looked blankly at what remained of the house. Emily, Katie and I stood next to her silently. We all knew how this would end.

A hundred trite and feeble phrases of comfort came and went inside my head. I discarded them all. Even if the world hadn't gone to shit...even if we had a fully trained, fully equipped team of rescuers beside us, it wouldn't do us any good. Somewhere under the tonnes of bricks, window frames and roof tiles in front of us, lay Pandora Moon. Our friend. The most cheerful human being on the planet.

And now there were just four little Indians...

We never did find her body. We all knew she was in there somewhere, but it seemed pointless trying to drag her shattered remains out, to do God knows what with it. Instead, in silent grief, we cleared a small area on the edge and interred her Aunts body with her. It seemed fitting.

None of us had really had the chance to grieve about any of our friends and family yet. I'm sure we had the same dark thoughts and fears, but it seemed like we couldn't articulate it. I was sure my mum and Kieran were dead. By the looks of the churning water around our small island, massive things had taken place. At one point, when the hill was bucking and slipping like a rodeo horse, I thought we would end up in the dark, boiling sea. None of us would have survived a moment in there. Apart from the huge turbulence and savage waves, the whole area was covered in the detritus of a thousand years of civilization. Houses, trees, cars, pylons and trucks all thrashed and dived about in the black sea.

But we survived. Effy went back into silent catatonia. Katie gave me one brief squeeze, before a resentful stare from her sister made her cough in embarrassment and move away from me and back to hugging her twin. I shrugged, although it hurt like hell. I had spent a lifetime telling people I just wanted to be left alone. Well, it looked like I was going to get my wish this time.

It took 24 hours for the aftershocks and the underground rumbles to stop. No one slept. We just huddled together under what dry things we could retrieve from the wreckage. I don't think Effy said a single word in that time. Katie and Emily started to talk in that strange twin language I had heard them use only once before. It seemed to comfort them, so I looked away and shuffled closer to Effy.

Dawn came with an unexpected clear blue sky and bright sunshine. It was as if the world had carried out a spring clean on an epic scale.

No one could be bothered to make anything to eat. We just sat there, listlessly, waiting for the end. With our little ray of sunshine gone, none of us could face making a move. We'd resigned ourselves to wait for the inevitable.

And then, maybe an hour later, in the distance, a sound. Not a natural sound...but a mechanical chunk, chunk, chunk. In the sky, from the north came the most beautiful noise I had ever heard. A helicopter.

Gradually, as we stood up, the speck in the clear blue sky turned into a shape. A familiar shape. Yellow, noisy and wonderful...a Sea King ASR chopper. I don't know who started shouting and waving first, but by the time it changed course and started to approach our small oasis, we all were.

We were saved...or were we?

**OK guys, I have a thousand words written already for the next chapter, but this seems a good place to pause.**

**Like, dislike? Your comments are welcome!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Onwards then. Rescued but...**

Naomi

Its been a week now, and a kind of warped routine has established itself among us. When the helicopter first landed on our tiny island, we thought all our troubles were over. In reality, it just bought a sickening recognition of how vulnerable we actually were. There were three crew on board the rescue chopper. Alex the pilot, who was in his early thirties, typical RAF type, mousy moustache, mirrored aviators and all, but very professional. Then there was Archie, the Australian navigator/co pilot. Younger, hairier but disarmingly cheerful and full of cheeky questions. Then finally, Maria the winch operator and part time evac medic. Very pretty in a Zoe Soldana sort of way. Dark haired, dark eyed, nice tits... and...oh fuck it, you get the picture. My gaydar bleeped off the chart even as I sat down on the jump seat , and so did Emily's. I caught the shy smile she flashed Maria as the girl helped her aboard. My scowl was totally wasted as neither of them looked my way, but in any case, it was pointless anyway. It turned out Maria wasn't into small, dark eyed angelic faced girls at all...but more of that later.

I sat up front with the crew as we made our noisy, bumpy way back towards Anglesey. It turned out this was the only operational helicopter in the vicinity, they told me over the thumping rotor and roaring engine. Lucky for them, they had just taken off on a routine search and rescue practice mission as the big waves hit the other day. They had watched the impacts and the aftermath from a safe height. Landing shortly after, they found out virtually everything had been smashed and ruined by the in rushing water. Their base on Anglesey, being on high ground, was relatively untouched, so they refueled and had spent the past couple of days searching for survivors.

The bad news was, apart from us, there were virtually none. They had picked up an old guy and his 14 year old grandson from up an oak a tree on a hillside, but apart from that? Nada.

Word was most of the UK was either drowned or smashed beyond recognition. The base had been hit by the quakes that killed Panda, but they had been lucky again. Although there were only about 15 people on the base when it all started, they only lost two to collapsing buildings. There were 11 guys and two women left. No wonder the two pilots looked at us like a starving man at a Queens banquet. It looked like females would be at a premium in this new watery world. The fact that Emily and I were both gay hadn't occurred to them yet obviously. And if Maria's appreciative smirk at my tits was anything to go by (OK, reciprocated...I always did like a girl in a tight singlet top...even if it was military green) there were at least three muff munchers amongst the survivors...Looked like Katie and Effy were in luck with the rest of the het crowd.

We landed about 40 minutes later and compared to what remained of Panda's aunts house, it looked like paradise to me. A row of dark green Nissan huts, intact, with a couple of RAF blue Landies and a yellow digger parked up outside. The tower was a heap of rubble, so I guessed that's where the casualties were lost. The chopper taxied along a short concrete apron and came to a stop beside the first anonymous hut. A guy in his thirties, a bit like Alex, but with more stripes on his sleeve and a bigger moustache, came out, standing stiffly and smiled thinly at us. The fact that the smile didn't reach his eyes didn't escape me...or Effy either. I caught her small frown as he eyed us up, like he was inspecting prize heifers. OK, we must have looked a bit of a mess, disheveled, unwashed and muddy. But I suppose from his point of view, we were just 4 females to add to his band of survivors. Whatever that meant to him.

But then we didn't know how ruthless and controlling this guy, who was called George apparently, could be. That would come later. A lot later.

For now, we were offered hot showers (they had a generator and artesian well water) and a change of clothes. Only RAF clothes, but clothes that didn't stink of unwashed bodies and stale seawater. It was an offer even KFF accepted gladly.

The first spray of hot water that hit my body felt almost orgasmic in pure pleasure. I had no idea how dirty I actually was until I looked down and saw the grey, grimy suds at my feet. I know it was a bit self indulgent, but I luxuriated for ten minutes in the sting of over hot water on my hair as I rinsed days of dirt out of it. Effy and I had let Emily and Katie have first dibs on the two shower cubicles, so they had already washed and changed and had been directed to the makeshift cookhouse along the row of huts to get some home baked bread and thick vegetable soup. My mouth watered at the thought of steaming hot broth after our miserable time recently scavenging cold cans for food, but first the shower...

When I stepped out of the cubicle finally, I saw that Effy had already dressed and left. I searched for a towel, but she had used both to dry herself. Typical...if it wasn't enough having Katie hog the bathroom back when she visited...

"Bitch" I grumbled, wondering where they stored the spares. The room was full of steam, but I was wary about going out into the long storage room next to it. Too big a chance of some horny squaddie ogling my tits. I had vivid memories of bumping into various pervy hippy types wandering about at my old house. Mums many and varied refugees...Jesus and _all_ the disciples.

"Looking for this?" A voice from inside the steam cloud said slyly. A female voice, I noted in relief. A tanned arm reached out with a green fluffy towel over it.

"Thanks...err?" I said awkwardly, not knowing who its owner was.

"No problem" the woman said, stepping out of the steam and grinning at me. Of course...Maria. I should have guessed. Her eye fucking in the helicopter wasn't just a fluke. This time she took her time running her eyes up and down my body. I could have played the nervous virgin and wrapped myself in the towel quickly. But I have a good body. My tits and arse are firm and with the puppy fat gone, my stomach is flat and toned. So, fuck it, I thought... I was fed up with playing the martyr to Emily's cultivated indifference. This woman was pretty, fit and definitely interested in me. What harm could it do to let her enjoy it...just for a bit?

So I thanked her again, and let her have a good long look. Water was still running down my body, drops slowly dripping off my nipples, but I let her perv away for a few more seconds, my eyebrow arched and a small smug smile on my face. Emily Fitch, eat your heart out, I thought. Maria looks like she would eat me alive if I let her...

"Nice..." she drew out softly, eventually moving her eyes back to meet mine "Very nice...I think you and me might be good friends, Naomi. Would you like that?"

I pulled the towel round my waist and grinned at her obvious come on.

"Maybe..." I said "Depends..."

She stepped closer, and a small doubt spoiled my flirtatious mood. Teasing her was one thing, it had been a while since anyone had come on that strong. But I wasn't ready to just let her jump me...less than an hour after we'd been introduced.

"Not so fast..." I gasped, stepping back as she went to slide her arms round me "I almost always insist on dinner first..."

Her eyes darkened, and I swear I saw her fists clench, but she covered it quickly with a broad, white smile.

"Sure..." she smirked "I don't think whats on offer in the canteen qualifies as dinner anyway...still, I'm sure we'll bump into each other again...Naomi...later?"

With that she turned and left me to dry off. I shook my head as I did. It was fucking surreal, this. Two days ago I was turning up at a hen party, determined to brazen it out with my significant ex. Worried only about getting too pissed and blurting out my love for her. Now I was standing, mostly naked, in a Nissan hut, getting propositioned by a slightly butch RAF air sea rescue girl. In between, I had seen death and destruction on a massive, unimaginative scale first hand. I don't think it gets much weirder than that...

XXX

Emily

Avoiding that blond bi...Naomi, was a bit easier here, but we still had to be in the same room occasionally. Its been three days now, and we've got into a fucked up routine of sorts. Because we were all female, they stuck us in the same Nissan hut as the RAF winch girl who winked at me when they picked us up and a slightly older fair haired woman, probably in her early 30's called Karen who was a nurse on this station. Its called RAF Valley and was one of the main Air Sea Rescue centres for the UK. When there was a UK that is...

After our showers and getting changed into some scruffy but clean service greens, we gathered in the main mess hall again to eat the stew cooked up for us. I sat one side of Katie, Naomi the other. Effy, who seemed to have recovered a bit from her breakdown over Panda's death, raised a quizzical eyebrow at me, but I ducked my head and avoided her unspoken question. Yes, I know it was childish, but I didn't seem to be able to get myself out of this stupid 'no eye contact' situation with Naomi.

But there was nothing wrong with my famous appetite.

I don't know about the others, but even two helpings of hot broth wasn't enough for me. I caught the faintly surprised look on the cooks face when I finished my second heaped bowl and looked hopefully round the table for more. I blushed a bit at that. I should have realised that food was probably scarce here too. So I settled for rubbing a spare bit of crusty bread round the bowl. Katie gave me one of her patented 'for fucks sake, Emily' looks, but I was indifferent to her particular brand of shit today. She knew I had the appetite of my Dads side, and not her bird like dietary needs... But thinking that just made me sad anyway. There was no Fitch lineage left either side now, was there, hungry or not?

Because within an hour of us being washed and fed, we found out the true horror of what had happened these past few days. Not only was Bristol and everything south of it gone, but the rest of the country had been hit with a series of earthquakes and seismic activity the like of which hadn't been seen since the planet was young.

This George character, who was a Squadron Leader back when that meant something, told us the sole surviving chopper had done a long tour of the south and west, to find we were the only pocket of survivors left. They had managed to get through to Leuchars base in Scotland on the radio just before the quakes hit and the outside power went. After that, just static and silence. The helicopter only had limited fuel in the big wheeled petrol bowsers in the compound, so he hadn't sent it any further north. But the likelihood was everything was gone there too. We were alone...

Katie and me had a good long cry afterwards in our room, realising everything and everyone we knew was almost certainly dead. Mum, Dad, James...all our relatives and friends, Amy, all except this little band of vagabonds here. I understood suddenly that Katie, Effy and yes, Naomi, were all I had left of my old life.

I ached for my loss and I ached for us all.

George had gone on to explain that we had to try to make the best of it here for now. The chopper would do a couple more sweeps, but after that, we had to save the fuel for escape, if the waves came again. Until then, we were all expected to contribute what we could, whatever that meant.

Well, I soon found out. Next morning, we were woken at dawn by a weedy looking young airman with a bad case of acne and an inability to be in a room with a pair of tits without talking to them. Which made him a very bad candidate for early morning Fitch wake up duties. I'm pretty level in the mornings, but Katie is almost as cranky as that _blon_...Naomi.

Neither of them function until caffeine is inserted into one end of them. So when Jamie (his name, apparently) went into verbal meltdown at the sight of not one, but two pairs of pert bra clad Fitch tits, Katie let him have the benefit of twenty years experience of putting down horny adolescents.

"Fuck _OFF_!" she roared as he stuttered his wake up message to my nipples, then hers. "And take your sad little teenage fantasies with your sorry arse. Next time, tell them to send a man"

He just blinked at her and carried on switching his eyes from one pair of Fitch tits to the other. I saw Katie climbing out of bed with cold murder in her eyes. I couldn't do it, he was too young to die. I grabbed his collar and whispered fiercely in his ear, propelling him door-wards

"Run...just fucking _run_, Forrest" I said "Ogling tits will can you killed in this room...she WILL maim you at the very least..."

He did, and a new casualty was avoided.

XXX

Naomi

We were allocated basic chores involving helping the cook, washing up and general cleaning duties. I suppose it was inevitable, us being mere civvies, that we wouldn't be considered for anything more testing, but fuck that, I went to see the little Gaulieter, as I called George, after a week of _that_ shite, to see if I could do something a bit more productive than sweeping out the dorm. He blustered a bit, but when Maria, who seemed to have him wrapped round her finger, backed me up, he grudgingly permitted me to go on a scouting mission with Alex and Maria. On foot.

Not far, no more than 5 miles was the instruction, but far enough to get away from Emily and her studious avoidance of my existence, which was a bonus. It was all getting a bit old, to be honest. I mean, her fucking sanctified girlfriend Amy was certainly dead if she'd been in Scotland when the quakes hit. A period of silent mourning was more than appropriate in these circumstances. I would have understood that, and sympathized with her. But she seemed to take my mere presence as an insult, even when Katie and then Effy had stern words with her over it. The feedback I got was that she was racked with guilt over 'betraying' Amy with me, which is a fucking joke, right? I don't call a cuddle and a platonic night in a musty sleeping bag a full blown affair...or maybe I've had a sheltered life...

OK, the intent was there, on both sides, I thought, but I felt like I was being punished for some sort of fucking thought crime. At least if we had actually shagged, she'd have something to be guilty over.

We had history. OK, thats a given. We still fancied the hell out of each other, so that too. But we hadn't actually done anything apart from admit we still had feelings for each other. I felt angry and resentful at being made out to be the bad guy in all this.

So the trip out of the small camp was a bit of a godsend. We took a big military canvas Bergen each to collect supplies, inside we just loaded water bottles and local maps, the rest was storage space. I still had the borrowed RAF fatigues on, which fitted after a fashion, but even Katie had stopped moaning by now about our new ill fitting military chic style. We were lucky to be alive, lucky to be able to walk and talk. All of us were grateful for that fact. Fashion was officially dead...along with about 60 million people apparently.

I didn't acknowledge Emily's quickly hidden raised eyebrow as Maria helped me with the unwieldy backpack. I didn't owe her any explanations, and if the RAF girl fancied me, fuck it, I was single and free to do what I liked. Maria's 'help' might have included a few brushes of her fingers across my tits and arse, but I didn't struggle much, if I was honest. It was comforting to know I wasn't totally unfanciable.

Effy came to the camp gates with us and squeezed my hand as we got to the path leading out towards the soggy no mans land beyond.

"Don't take any risks out there, Naoms" she said quietly "Losing Panda was awful...I couldn't bear it if..."

"No worries Eff" I said firmly "I intend to come back in one piece. I think we've all had enough tragedy for a lifetime"

I smiled at her, more confidently than I felt. This would be the first time any of us had split up since it happened.

"Oh...and be careful with her..." she nodded towards Maria, who was chatting to Alex, whilst keeping her eyes keenly on me "She looks like the possessive type..."

I frowned. It wasn't like Effy to offer advice on any potential hook ups of mine. Not that there were many to comment on.

"She fancies me...but I'm not exactly keen on proper relationships, remember? I smiled ruefully "Got burned pretty badly once already...small girl, red hair...?"

Effy gripped my hand harder and leaned forward so only I could hear her.

"Like I said...watch her. She might be pretty and available, but don't burn all your bridges at once babe...a small brunette is still crazy about you, despite her overwhelming stupidity over fuck all"

"Really?" I said sarcastically "Didn't know Katie went for muff too..._"

"Fuck off" Effy grinned "You know who I mean..."

Five minutes later I looked over my shoulder to see Effy still standing in the gateway, watching us walk into the distance.

It was good to get out into the fresh air, after the week of toeing the line, cleaning and doing odd jobs in the camp. I've always been a doer, not a thinker, despite appearances. Getting out of the claustrophobic atmosphere of Camp Bastion as we christened it, was refreshing. Alex set a good pace, using the roads and footpaths. We descended onto a hilly grass area and avoided the still boggy lowland. In the distance stood a castle and beyond that a bridge. Alex said the bridge was smashed in the middle, so we couldn't cross to the Welsh coast, but that might have been a blessing in disguise, considering what horrors probably waited there. A few million rotting corpses for a start. I had watched Walking Dead on DVD, and although it wasn't likely any of the poor souls lying over there were likely to rise up and feast on us, the thought of seeing dozens, maybe hundreds of dead people wasn't something on my to do list.

Eventually, after checking out a couple of remote cottages and finding only tins of food worth liberating, we got to the castle. It had been flooded, but only lightly. Being built hundreds of years ago, it was a lot more resilient than the poorly built houses around it. I'm guessing it was a big tourist attraction before the floods, but I don't think many people were left alive to appreciate the architecture now. But the main reason we were investigating it, according to Maria, was because of its defensive capabilities. It might have been old, but it had huge walls, gates and lookout towers. It seemed our Squadron Leader had decided the RAF camp we left this morning was too difficult to defend, given it only had chain link fences around it. I was a bit puzzled at this new turn of events.

"Why will we need to defend it?" I said "It's not as if there are hordes of ravaging survivors roaming the countryside, is it?"

Maria exchanged a knowing look with Alex, who looked away from my puzzled stare.

"Listen babe" she said patiently (a tone which instantly made me bristle with resentment. One thing I hate is to be patronised) "We don't _know_ that everyone is dead. There might well be other survivors. They may be friendly, but we don't know that either. If we can find a really safe place to hole up...and someone arrives on our doorstep...we have the option to let them in or not. Thats all"

It sounded reasonable, but I still had a nagging doubt in the back of my mind. Castles are good at keeping people out, but they're also good at keeping people in. I thought Alex and Archie were OK...and apart from Maria's obvious desire to get her hands down my knickers, she seemed straightforward too, but I had my doubts about Gorgeous George. He reminded me too much of another George, once Chancellor of the Exchequer. A scumbag of the first water... Hopefully that particular George (or Gideon to give him his christened name) was floating face down in the sea at the moment, but our brand of leader had the same empty eyes and glib turn of phrase. I reserved my judgment, but smiled back at Maria. No point in giving my doubts away just yet, was there?

We explored the castle, and found its incredibly thick walls had resisted all but the worst flooding. There was a new section in one of the towers, obviously built to house the administrators. It was clean, well equipped with power (we found a generator in a side room below, with hundreds of litres of diesel in jerry cans) and ready to occupy. There was even a long room on the top floor with a dozen beds made up and ready. _Someone_ had made preparation for a big event. I wondered which Government department had known all about the asteroid strikes well in advance. If they had gone to the trouble of kitting this place out for a national emergency, there must be other places too. Suddenly, the idea that we needed to protect ourselves didn't seem so far fetched.

Eventually, we had found everything the castle (Beaumaris, it was called, according to the broken signs on the perimeter) had to offer. Then we saw that the daylight was fading outside. We had only intended to be away for a few hours, but it took longer to search the place than expected. Maria and Alex had a hushed conversation in the corner while I wandered round the kitchen, scouting for more tins. They looked over at me more than once and I started to bristle again. Being on the outside of an in joke isn't my idea of fun. Luckily, Maria spotted my frown and came over.

"We're not talking about you hun" she smiled disarmingly "But it does involve you. Alex has suggested that you and I stay here to guard the place overnight. He'll go back to Valley and let George and the others know what we've found. They'll come back tomorrow in one of the Landies, now we know the roads are passable. If George thinks we're right about using this place as a base, we could all be living here by tomorrow night...what about it?"

"You mean you and me stay here overnight...alone?" I said warily.

"Why not...its clean, comfortable...and the beds look better than those old ones at Valley. Not scared of ancient ghosts, are you?" she smirked.

I wasn't. But I had a healthy apprehension about spending the night alone with someone so up front about wanting to fuck me. Someone I only met a week ago.

She must have seen the doubt in my eyes, because she took a step back from me.

"Listen honey" she grinned "You know I fancy you...but I'm no rapist...I'd prefer you got into my bed willingly..."

I blushed at her instant recognition of why I was reluctant. Fuck...what was I frightened of?

XXX

Emily

When Alex got back alone, I tried but failed to hide my grimace of concern. I'm not blind...I saw the looks that Maria was giving Naomi. It was obvious she fancied her, and Naomi wasn't exactly fighting her off. But that was unfair and I knew it. I hadn't given Naomi any reason to worry about my feelings. It was like when you were at school and you fell out with your best friend. The Mexican standoff was somehow comforting...you talking to her via intermediaries and studiously avoiding any contact. Neither of you wanted to give in, so you kept it up for days. But this was a bit different, wasn't it? Naomi and I weren't at school any more. And she'd done nothing wrong but just..._exist_.

Seeing her every day reminded me that I loved her so fiercely once (who am I kidding...still do) and every time she smiled or looked at me sideways, I got a thrill inside which made everything I had so carefully constructed with Amy pale in comparison. I remember Katie saying to me one drunken night a while back, that I had met the love of my life at 16, and that doesn't happen to many people. Trouble is, you have a whole lifetime of comparisons to make after that. We'd been apart three years, and I thought I had grown out of it all. Apparently not.

Alex told us in the mess hall that evening that they had found a place we could relocate to. We had no idea that was even being considered, but George interrupted in that rather annoying clipped upper class accent and told us that we were told _what_ we needed to know, _when_ we needed to know it, which made my hackles rise. Katie growled next to me, but I squeezed her arm. No point in pissing off the Fuhrer just yet, I thought.

But the main worry on my mind was those two snuggled up in our potential new home tonight. Naomi had no reason to hold back if GI Jane made a move on her. We could get there tomorrow to find them enjoying a post coital cigarette, and I knew that was something I would hate. A lot.

Inevitably, Effy collared me after the 'meeting'.

"Listen Ems" she said quietly as we walked back to our room "Naomi is a big girl now...she can take care of herself"

"Don't know what you're talking about" I said miserably, fooling no one, least of all my all seeing friend.

"Bullshit" she said succinctly, lighting up one of the cigarettes she seemed to be able to find an unending supply of...I suspected one lucky airman with a hidden stash was being put on a series of promises... "You and her...done deal. It just needs you to take that stick out of your arse and admit it to yourself. The rest of us got there a while back"

I could have argued, I could have protested. But she was right. I still wanted Naomi and no amount of self imposed isolation could change that. Trouble is, she was probably snuggling up with the randy winch girl right now. Was I too late?

**Well, you'll have to wait for the answer. I have a flight to catch to sunny Corfu tonight. A week of sun, sand and...well, whatever the island has to offer! Reviews when I get back would be awesome. Life is about to get much more complicated for all of them, not just Naomi and Emily.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Back from holiday, tanned, refreshed and more than a bit alcohol poisoned. But never mind. Corfu is now a hazy, happy memory. Which still makes it twice as weird to be writing about soggy apocalypses right now. And reading the updates to Now and Then and Coming Home gave me more than a touch of inferiority complex. But ho hum. They do the good stuff, I fill in with amateur rubbish. Some people like it, so...**

**And this chapter starts hot and steamy, before the rain comes again...just in case you're operating heavy machinery or something like that. Just saying...puff puff...**

Emily

"Emily?"

I starts with a hoarse, dreamy whisper which I barely registered in my semi conscious state. That bit between sleeping and waking where you're not sure what is real and what is imagination. Before the alarm clock removes any doubt.

"W...what?" I grumbled sleepily. Never been much of an early riser. Earlier than that blonde _bi_...Naomi...but never early early, if you know what I mean. But something about that familiar voice is nagging at me to respond and I resist the urge to go back to sleep, just.

"Amy?" I slurred, trying to shake off the almost suffocating darkness over me.

"Shhh, baby" she whispered "Its really early...let me wake you up the way you like...you know?"

Suddenly I'm not so tired, although my eyes seem to be just as reluctant to open properly. I can see grey shapes and blurry outlines out of my slitted lids, but nothing clear. I tried to lift my arms to throw off the army blanket, but they won't obey me either.

"Shhh" she whispers again, more definitely this time and then there are cool, smooth hands moving under the thick wool I'm sleeping inside, stroking my legs. First my calves, using delicate little circles, then my thighs. My heart starts to beat faster and I lick my lips. This is nice...She takes her time, trailing fingernails up and down my skin, lightly, almost feather like. Fuck, she's never been this gentle, this knowing, I think, its almost like it isn't her at all...but that's just silly...isn't it?

Then the bed shifts slightly as she moves up onto it properly, parting my legs with firm hands and stroking ever higher, nearer to the place thats throbbing for her touch now. I sigh and relax. If she wants to wake me up like this, I'm hardly likely to argue. Its normally me doing the sexy wake up calls...me who instigates sex, whether its early or late. Its kinda lovely to be the one seduced.

"Open them wider babe" she murmurs with slightly more heat in her voice.

I murmur back, wriggling a bit as the back of her hand brushes over my knickers, leaving heat and moisture behind it.

"_Amy_..."I say shakily, "Someone might _see_ us..."

"Shhh" she whispers for the third time "Just let me do this Ems...I need to...I fucking _need_ to, right...?"

Her words are more urgent and I wonder briefly why she's being this needy. Its not like her at all.

I feel her breath on my thigh, just below the place I desperately want her mouth to be. When she bothers, she can be as skilful as...well, as skilful as my only other proper lover was. But I push that thought aside. Its _Amy_ who's making love to me. _Amy_ who belongs here, in my bed, between my legs. I sigh a bit louder as I feel a warm, wet tongue trail delicate shapes up the inside of both thighs now. Still not touching me...there... even as I hiss my impatience.

"Please?" I say, hearing my voice break a little at the end of the word.

"Soon baby...soon" she says in a voice laced with something dark and lustful "Take these off first...I want to see how much you need me...how wet you are for me"

I find myself helping her take my shorts off, impatiently throwing them aside as she settles back between my legs, reaching round them to hold me firmly. I know whats coming now...she always begins and ends the same way. A few deliberate, long strokes up and down to moisten me (not _strictly_ necessary this time, considering how wet I already am) then a succession of penetrating thrusts inside me. A minute or so sucking my clit until I'm arching and balling the sheets in my fists, throatily begging her for more. Then the tongue settles for some classic fast lapping, while her two straight middle fingers do the heavy work. Its not exactly the Karma Sutra, but then I never was that hard to get off once my motor is running. With me, its mostly an unstoppable physical reaction to friction in the right place. Apart from when I was with that _blo_...the other one. That was a whole different thing. But fuck that...this is now and I need Amy to finish what she's started.

But anyway, this time she stops after just a few desultory licks up and down. I groan my disappointment and reach down to grab her hands, her head. I need her to...

"Touch yourself" Amy growls.

I almost open my eyes in shock at that. Touch myself? She never really went for the exhibitionist stuff, my Amy. Mostly vanilla. Lots of horizontal fingering and the odd bit of oral pleasure, but nothing out of the ordinary. I did suggest we dress up and role play for each other once, after a bottle of tequila, but her astonished stare and quick shake of the head blew that little fantasy out of the water. I suppose my middle school uniform will have to stay in the wardrobe indefinitely...along with the skimpy white lace accessories.

Shame...

"What...but you don't _like_ me to do that...you said before, remember?..." I said, puzzled.

"I do now...touch yourself Emily...for me?" she pleaded.

I was hardly gonna turn down that sort of request, now was I? I dropped my head back on the pillow, after taking one last look down at the shape of my girlfriend burrowed under the quilt. My legs were now spread obscenely wide and I could feel her hot breath on my super sensitive skin. She was breathing heavier now as my fingers quickly moved into that old familiar rhythm, practiced over many nights alone in my single bed back in Bristol. The nights before I found out how much more exciting someone else's fingers feel, someone else's tongue...

I could hear the faint liquid sounds of my excitement build as I pressed harder around my clit. Amy's mouth was a fraction away from the back of my fingers as I worked myself closer to what felt like a tremendous, approaching climax. It had been weeks since I'd... and as my heels dug into the thin mattress and my thighs began to roll and pump, I heard her voice again. Her mouth close...so close to my frantic rubbing. It was driving me crazy.

"Babe..._please_" I whispered harshly.

"So fucking sexy...so fucking hot Ems...come for me, my beautiful girl..." she moaned excitedly.

It was enough. I could feel my toes curling and my stomach beginning to clench. Fuck, this was gonna be a big one...

"Ems...I love you so much" she groaned feverishly as I writhed on the bed, her lips and tongue now moving wetly over the backs of my fingers as they continued to circle rapidly. All at once I knew two things. This orgasm was going to wipe me out for an hour at least...but more importantly...that wasn't Amy's voice at all. I fucking _knew_ that voice...

Even as I cried out in ecstasy and felt the first unstoppable spasms shake me like I'd been plugged in, I threw back the covers over her head, revealing her properly. Looking up at me, lust in her brilliant blue eyes and the slickness of my excitement on her open lips was...Naomi fucking Campbell. Blonde hair, bright eyes and smirking lips. Wet, smirking lips.

"N...Naomi?" I moaned, unable to stop my fingers stroking or my hips humping upwards. I was coming so hard I almost blacked out. On and on it went, in rolling waves.

"Naomi?" I groaned again and gave up the fight. Too late to stop, I thrashed from side to side, hand clamped between my closed thighs, groaning and panting as the waves of pleasure washed over me repeatedly. I had been wrong about this orgasm. It wasn't just amazing...it was fucking epic. The sort of come you only read about in overblown fan fiction...

I don't know how long it lasted, but as long as it did, I didn't care who had caused it. Eventually, rolling onto my back again, I opened my eyes fully for the first time since this started. Above me just the bland green ceiling of the Nissan hut. The bed-covers lay twisted and discarded beside me. Gradually, my breathing slowed to normal. I looked at the bottom of the bed curiously. Where was Amy...fuck..,where was _NAOMI_?

Nothing.

Except not quite nothing. The other two beds in the room were still occupied. In one Katie slept on, facing away from me, gently snoring (thank God). Blissfully unaware of her twin sisters recent spectacular wet dream. Unfortunately, on the other bed lay a thinner, subtler body. A body which was idly blowing smoke rings upwards.

Effy.

"Quite a show Ems" she said laconically. "Tell me again about how much you're over Naomi?"

Being caught getting off by your friend is embarrassing enough. Being caught getting off whilst calling out the name of your ex by Effy Stonem is a whole new level of torment.

"Fuck off Eff" I said miserably. Not the best riposte, but I was still getting minor aftershocks between my legs which made my fingers twitch.

I heard her low chuckle and another thin plume of smoke drifted up from her bed.

"Whatever you say Ems..., whatever you say" she said, and rolled the other way. Conversation over then.

XXX

Naomi

Well last night was entertaining, I guess. My new friend made several attempts to change my mind about shagging her, but something told me it wasn't the brightest idea. She was pretty. She was definitely fit. But something wasn't quite right. In a nightclub, anytime before this whole apocalypse type thing had happened senses blurred with alcohol, I would have let her have her way with me. A few shots, maybe a small yellow tab, and I would definitely have let her use me. Against the wall, in the back of a taxi? Yep. Purely physical. Unzip, orgasm, zip back up.

But this was somehow different. She seemed almost too eager to get me naked. It was as if I had ended up with the female equivalent of Cook.

James Cook, being about the most basic human being on the planet, had very simple needs. I stupidly let him share my room at my mums one drunken night. Never again, but it taught me a whole lot about him, and men in general. He made two determined and one half hearted attempt to get me to fuck him. Nothing physical you understand, just a whole lot of lamo cliche ridden persuasion. Once I had made it clear that Gary Glitter had more chance of penetrating me than him, he settled for pleading for a 'friendly wank' as he charmingly put it.

No dice, was my emphatic response. He then asked if I would mind just showing him my tits, so he could 'help himself'. My roar of anger eventually convinced him that any and all sexual activity between us was completely out of the question. He grumbled a bit, but finally settled down on the sleeping bag I had put on the floor beside the window.

Later that night, just as sleep finally overtook me, I thought I heard a rhythmic rustling coming from the sleeping bag in the corner.

"Cook...I swear...if you're wanking off in my sleeping bag, I'll throw you out into the garden to sleep" I growled in exasperation.

"Spoilsport" was the grumpy one word reply.

"Disgusting" I said, hearing him sigh in frustration.

I went to sleep with a smirk on my face. Cock blocked Cook was quite amusing in a way.

But anyway, back to my amorous companion Maria. She seemed to have a similar outlook on life. Food, booze and sex. Simple.

_A few hours earlier..._

"So...did you have a girlfriend, before..." she said, taking a sip from the bottle of bourbon we had liberated from a desk drawer.

"Not really" I answered honestly "Had my fingers burned a bit with the whole relationship thing"

She dipped her head and picked at a loose thread on her shorts. We had settled on one of the side rooms to spend the night. It had a bunk bed in one corner and a comfortable couch opposite. It looked like the room had been prepared for emergency occupation. The bed and bedding was brand new. The pillows still had the tags on them. Whoever prepped this place had done it in a hurry.

"Yeah...I get that" she said eventually, lifting her head and smiling. "Me too...being in the RAF means being moved around a lot. My last posting was in Scotland. And although everyone thinks the military is full of desperate dykes, its not that easy to hook up. Specially on a little Welsh island like this... I was beginning to think I'd have to open a mail order account with Anne Summers..."

She giggled softly and I joined in. It had been a while since I'd laughed, I realised with a shock.

"Know what you mean" I smirked "Fucking batteries cost the earth, don't they?"

"And then you came along...all big blue eyes and sexy body" she said, stilling the mutual laughter at my attempt at humour.

"I'm nothing special" I said flatly "Even when there were plenty of hot dykes about, I don't remember there being a queue outside my door"

"Well...I think you're fucking _gorgeous_" she breathed, reaching up and brushing a stray lock of hair from my face. Suddenly the temperature inside the little room went up a few degrees. I put down my bourbon and moved back a fraction, noticing the small flash of disappointment in her eyes. I don't know why I was playing so hard to get. Emily obviously didn't want me, even if we were the only queer women left alive. I almost leaned forward and kissed her.

Instead I smiled at her to soften the blow.

"Look" I breathed, holding her dark eyes with mine "I'm not saying I don't fancy you. You're pretty and...well..._fit_. But so much has happened recently...to all of us. I lost my whole family, such as it is...most of my friends are gone too and we might not survive the next 24 hours, let alone 24 years. I'm just a bit afraid of getting involved with someone so quickly. Christ, we only met a week ago. Can you just hold off a bit...until I sort my head out? I promise I won't string you along indefinitely"

She nodded, rubbing a spot of spilled neat golden spirit off her bare thigh. A very brown and smooth thigh, I noticed again, increasing the warmth in my stomach. I mentally kicked myself for being so reluctant about it all. She was right, we were young, free and single, with no real idea if we would live to see tomorrow. Taking pleasure where you find it was pretty logical when you look at it like that. But something was stopping me. Something decidedly Emily Fitch shaped I realised. Effy's last words to me about not burning all my bridges was nagging away at me. Stupid, but it was enough to stop me taking an extra big slug of JD before giving in to the woman opposite me.

"Fair enough" she said evenly "But unless you've got your eye on anyone else...I'm pretty much the best looking lesbian in town now"

She grinned cheekily and I clinked my glass against hers.

"True...apart from me that is..." I said, winking extravagantly.

This time she threw her head back and laughed loudly. The sound reverberated off the ancient walls. Perhaps the first laughter heard here in centuries. Perhaps the last.

We finished half the bottle in companionable silence, then agreed to call it a night. Even though it was still warm outside, the chill was pronounced in here. Eight foot thick stone walls don't make good insulation. I took the top bunk and carefully kept my eyes averted when she stripped her tee off, leaving her in just the stripy blue girl shorts she was wearing to bed. I decided, against my normal routine, to keep my tee on. Midnight temptation was still very possible, and not just from her. The bourbon was still toying with my libido.

"Night Maria..."' I murmured as she got into the bottom bunk.

"Night sexy...hey...no self abuse tonight, right?...or I won't be responsible for my actions" she chuckled dirtily.

"I think I can manage that" I choked, hoping I was being truthful. In fact she hadn't made any serious attempt to shag me tonight, but I can't lie, my imagination had already explored the prospect and found it pretty tempting.

But within ten minutes, it didn't matter. I could hear her breathing grow deeper and more even. I was alone with my thoughts again.

XXX

Next morning, I was up first. I brewed some tea on the little Calor stove we brought with us. There were lots of large, full fresh water plastic carboys in the kitchen. It smelt fine, so I used it to get a good brew going. I found some reasonably fresh bread in the fridge, which was still ticking away from the little generator in the basement. The toaster worked too, so I threw in four slices of doorstep white Hovis and drank my cup while I waited for the toaster to pop.

The unmistakeable sound of a Land Rover pulling up in the courtyard outside made me gulp my tea a bit quicker. No doubt it was George, come to inspect his latest kingdom...

Another engine sound told me they had come in numbers, so I put a couple of saucepans of water on the bigger camping stove on the makeshift work-surface in the other room. Soldiers, sailors and airmen have one thing in common...they all love tea...lots of it. Might as well be prepared. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Alex put his head round the door and grinned at me.

"Thats my girl" he beamed "Get your priorities right!"

I smiled back at him, heaping loose tea into a big industrial aluminium teapot I had found under the sink. I added a few mismatched mugs and some spoons to the clutter on the table and waited for his highness Emperor George, to arrive.

It wasn't long. His watery eyes regarded me and the kitchen for a few moments before he came in. He reminded me of a cut down Voldemort...with facial hair.

"Ahh...Naomi...excellent. I see you've made yourself at home. Any problems overnight?"

I considered telling him that the only problem I'd had was deciding whether to shag his helicopter medic, but luckily for me, common sense prevailed.

"Nope" I said, turning to the now boiling pans and taking them off the hob. "Tea, boss?"

I saw his wince at my familiarity, but he let it go with nothing more than a reproachful look. I was fucked if I was going to address him as Squadron Leader. I wasn't conscripted quite yet.

"Good good good" he said in that clipped military way which rankled with me every time. Who the fuck says good good good, anyway?

"Better get dressed Miss Campbell" he said, avoiding looking at me. For fucks sake, I thought, I'm plenty decent. I had my cargo pants on and a singlet. Then I remembered I hadn't put my bra on before coming out here. My nipples must have been giving him the jitters or something. I hunched over a bit, not wanting him to see my embarrassment.

"Right...well...tea's on. I'll just go and..." I flapped distractedly and exited as fast as I could without running. He had a way of making me feel inadequate, without really trying. To be honest, he reminded me more and more of that cunt Professor Blood, back at Roundview. Another picky little anal fucker as my late step father Kieran would have said. A wave of sadness washed over me as I remembered I would never see his world weary eyes or unshaven Irish face again. I hoped he had been with mum when it happened. She adored him, lazy Irish fecker...

When I got to the room I had been sharing with my amorous chopper girl, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Coming out of the room with a very strange look on her face was one Emily Jane Fitch.

"Oh..." I said, stepping back to let her out "...looking for me?"

She regarded me with those big brown eyes for a second. She looked..._hurt..._ for some reason. A look I remembered only too well from my Roundview days. Mainly because I normally put it there.

"I was..." she said, looking away for a moment before fixing me again with the Bambi stare "But it seems you're a bit busy. Sorry..."

"Sorry?" I said, puzzled "Why would I be busy?"

Just then GI Jane appeared over her shoulder, smirking.

"Hi babes" she said, winking at me "Forgot my bra...all a bit of a blur...last night...wasn't it?"

She wriggled past Emily, batting her eyes at me and offering Emily a cool stare before walking off. I knew then that she'd said something to Emily before I got there which had spooked her. She might have well have pissed up my leg. Territorial marking Olympic Class...

Emily went to brush past me, her expression stony. But I grabbed hold of her sleeve.

"No" I said firmly "Don't walk away from me with the complete wrong idea yet again. I _didn't_ shag her, no matter what she told you. I haven't even _kissed_ her for fucks sake. We slept in separate bunks, OK? Although I have no idea why I'm explaining myself to you Emily. I'm not the one who's ignoring people, am I?"

She shrugged, But I could tell she had taken what I'd said in. She sighed and pursed her lips.

"You're right...I was being stupid. I have no claims over you. I just wanted to... talk to you...clear the air between us. If you want to sleep with someone else, its really not my place to..."

I interrupted her. This shit was getting boring.

"First, I don't want to sleep with anyone else...no matter how many heavy hints get made by other...people...and second, your apology, if that's what it was, is accepted even if I still think you're a stroppy cow Fitch... Now, do you want to talk about this properly Ems...without Roberta Ramjet interrupting?"

She looked a bit shocked at that outburst. But I was fed up with pussyfooting around things. I still wanted her, that hadn't changed since the day I left Roundview. I think she wanted me, and the only physical obstacle to that was part of a tide of dead people half way across the North Sea. A bit of me still felt bad about stepping into this Amy's shoes so soon after her presumed demise. But the other part of my mind insisted I had the first claim on Emily.

"OK..." she said quietly "We'll talk. But George has called a meeting as soon as the others arrive. Max has found a 7.5 tonne truck which survived the waves. He's bringing the others and all the kit down here straight away. Maybe we could talk later...when we can get some time on our own?"

I wish I could say the little thrill that went through me at the bit about 'time on our own' was quickly suppressed, but my goofy grin gave the game away I think.

"OK" I said, trying and failing spectacularly to be nonchalant, "Its a date..."

Then I realised how that sounded and reddened like a virgin opening this months Playboy. Emily stifled a giggle at my embarrassment and simply nodded in agreement. The squeeze she gave my hand as she turned and left to go back to the promise of hot tea kept me going all through Georges interminable debriefing.

**Next chapter part written. All plain sailing now? You know me better than that!**

**Reviews would be nice...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well..its been a while for this one, I know, but I got turned off the road somewhere on a little side track called Keffy Street. It was an amusing and stimulating diversion, but only one person (thanks nomes) reviewed the last chapter, so now the road block is gone for good, and now I'm back on track. **

**OK, enough of the motoring metaphors. Getting that new supercharged Mini Cooper has had an adverse effect on me. Must be the flies in my teeth and the permanent 'Mad' grin I wear when driving it. Back to sanity then. The Flood beckons (huh?)**

Naomi

Sitting down in the makeshift meeting room with Emily was nice. Feeling her leg pressing against mine was slightly (OK, _very_) distracting, but it was more the memory of the last time we sat in a room surrounded by strangers, side by side, that overstimulated me. Before our big bust up and the painful separation, we had gone to a basketball game in Bristol one night after college. Yeah, I know...basketball? It was, of course, Katies idea. She had the hots for a 6'7" guy with size 14 shoes (quelle surprise) . Whoever told Katie that shoe size is directly related to dick length has a lot to answer for.

The fact that...apparently...they were right (she said...), has nothing to do with it. I had no idea what the rules were for this lamo game, but it just seemed to consist of lots of freakishly tall men bouncing a ball from one end to the other bewildering fast. They seemed to score goals or nets or what fucking ever, about once a minute. After 10 minutes boredom, I zoned out.

We were sitting right at the back, although Katies binoculars were trained on her targets crotch the whole time. Blatant much?

It was then that Emily started to play tease...

It began with the pressure of her leg on mine. Bare leg. She was wearing a loose pair of cotton shorts as it was hot outside, even at 8 in the evening. I had a short flowery cotton skirt on, which I regretted greatly a few minutes after Emily started...pressing me. Don't get me wrong. Although I was still outwardly in denial, the close proximity of Emily Fitch's body pressed all the right buttons for me. It was just that it made me...or very sensitive parts of me...way too fucking accessible.

You have to remember that I was still trying desperately to cling on to the closet in those days. In private, I had no problem stripping the beautiful twin naked and burying my head between her legs (I discovered, with a whole lot of surprise, that I was at least as skilful with my tongue as Emily...or so she told me) But PDA's were definitely off the agenda. The first sign of her pursing her lips for a kiss in the corridors of Roundview and I was off like a gazelle with a lion for company. I saw the hurt in her eyes every time I did it, but I didn't seem to be able to stop myself.

Anyway, Emily had learned to be sneaky if she wanted a little taste of Campbell in public. And this night she was in super sneaky mode.

We were alone in the row, just in the shadow of the roof beams. As Katie had chosen this spot, I doubt Emily had anything to do with the location, but she sure took advantage of it...

Her pressure on my leg was distracting, but bearable. I knew that once Katie got her man at full time, we would be able to slip away...maybe to the park, and release some of the frustration we both felt pretty much constantly these days. Then I felt her little finger resting on my thigh. I flashed her a warning glance, taking the time to check out where Katie was looking first. I needn't have worried...she was training her field glasses on a part of his anatomy neither Emily or I would spare a moment looking at. I might be still traveling that Egyptian river, but I had absolutely no interest in stiff dicks, athletic variety or not...

Then her middle finger started tracing delicate lines on my bare thigh, just under the edge of my loose skirt. I jumped like I'd been shot and hissed at her to behave herself. She just grinned that cheeky Fitch grin and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Don't play the innocent with me Fitch" I growled unconvincingly "You know exactly what you're doing...later, right?"

Again, the angelic 'who me' look.

The peace lasted 5 more minutes, then the finger was back...joined by a couple of helpful friends. My stomach clenched as she carefully put her denim jacket over our knees. I looked again at Katie, but she was still raptly measuring her potential stud up for his no doubt horizontal slam dunks later. I'm guessing, if even some of the rumours are true, that she was estimating his size against her gag reflex. Which instantly made me feel like gagging too. But Emily had other ideas for my oral talents. She leaned closer and her petite boob grazed my bare upper arm, all totally innocently, of course...

"Can't wait..." she whispered simply "Got to touch you Naoms"

I could have got up, moved seats, pushed her off. But you have to understand. I was 16, horny most (OK, all) of the time, and Emily Fitch? Well, lets just say those fanny books under her bed had been well thumbed for ideas by then, she was already a very..._experimental_...girl. I think irresistible is the word I'm searching for.

A couple of minutes later, I would have been hard pressed to tell you which city we were currently in. Emily's hand was flat out cupping me firmly between the legs. Her middle finger was drawing erotic patterns on the front of my girl shorts. The wetness seeping through them was making her job a whole lot easier too..

It was a good job Katies guys team scored at that moment, because Emily took the opportunity to slip a sly finger under the leg of my underwear and started circling my aching clit, hard. While everyone else jumped around and cheered, I was desperately trying not to call on Jesus to help me.

When the crowd roared. I did too...but for a very, very different reason.

She withdrew her fingers from inside my knickers slowly and carefully as everyone started to sit down again. I snapped my legs shut, looking wildly around, fervently hoping no one had either seen what she had been doing to me... or, horror of horrors...taking a crafty phone pic of us. Neither was true, but I wasn't exactly reassured when Emily lifted her slick middle fingers to her mouth and sucked on them, giving out a satisfied moan as she did. I knew my face would be scarlet, so I tried distracting myself by looking at Katie again.

Bad move.

She was regarding us with narrowed, suspicious eyes. I turned back to Emily, hoping she'd finished licking my excitement off her fingers, but I nearly had a heart attack as she held up the jumbo tub of popcorn we had bought in with us to her sister. Two bits of corn clinging to her wet fingers.

"Popcorn Katie?" she drawled nonchalantly "Sorry about the fingers...I always get the sticky one, me..."

"Whatever" Katie growled, still looking at me as if I had done something wrong. She dipped her hand into the tub, which her sister was still innocently holding out and fumbled for a handful. Emilys arched eyebrow as Katie stuffed a few in her mouth..some almost certainly _not_ the standard salted flavour...nearly gave me a seizure. I wasn't sure what was more shocking, the fact that my girlfriend had fingered me to a shuddering orgasm in public, or that the biggest homophobe in Bristol was unknowingly munching on my muff ...secondhand as it were...

It wasn't till a full five minutes later that Emily stopped giggling helplessly beside me. Bitch...

So now, side by side in this small room, I was getting a definite deja vu moment. And I wasn't alone...

"Remember when I..." Emily leaned over and whispered quietly, breaking my reverie. I blushed and nodded. She giggled throatily at my expression.

"Still worried about an audience then Naoms?" she said, raising that perfect eyebrow again. I swallowed hard and bit my lip. No way was I gonna let that pass unchallenged. I'd changed a lot since we broke up...she needed to know that.

"Nope" I said nonchalantly, putting my hand firmly on her leg and squeezing hard "If you put your fingers anywhere near my fanny, Emily Fitch...I'll strip you naked right here...in front of everyone... and fuck your gorgeous brains out. And that's a promise"

The look on her face was priceless. I grinned at her open mouth and licked my lips suggestively. One nil to Campbell, I thought smugly. Should have known better. Emily was never one to fold if I upped the stakes.

"Should be an interesting 'chat' later then..." she smirked, reaching down and squeezing my thigh in return "Your room or mine?" her tongue swiped her bottom lip, waggling suggestively and memories of just how skilful that muscle was flooded my mind unbidden.

The burst of heat between my legs almost made me gasp out loud. If it hadn't been for the entrance of George and two of his lackeys then, I might have said fuck it to the group meeting and dragged my little Fitch off to a quiet place. She still had the ability to make me hot with a word, a look, a gesture. I realised I was doomed, all over again...

"Right gentlemen...and err...ladies" George said, brushing imaginary lint off his pressed uniform. He puffed out his chest and waited for quiet.

"As you know, we have been searching for and attempting to communicate with...anyone else left alive after the waves hit... Sadly, it seems we may be the only pocket of survivors left on the mainland. We did manage to contact a small band of people on Jersey two days ago. but shortly afterwards, the transmission ceased abruptly, right about the time of the last big electrical storm we had. It seems the vast majority of the 66 million people who lived on these islands has perished"

He paused for the chatter to die down again. I think we all knew what he was saying was true, but hearing it stated like that made it all the more real. I heard some stifled sobs as a few people absorbed the fact that any hope they still had for missing friends and relatives was now gone. I'd already come to terms with losing my mum and Kieran, but I still had a lump in my throat. Emily released my thigh and clutched at my hand for comfort. I saw Katie holding her other hand tightly. It was the only sympathy we could offer each other.

I can't say I had much to do with her family, back in the the day. Her Dad was a good enough sort, all white teeth and floppy hair. But her mother had been nothing but a first class bitch to Ems, and to me from day one. I hadn't forgotten the 'chat' we had when I called for Emily one morning before college. Apparently, I was the dyed in the wool lesbian bitch who was busy corrupting her innocent daughter. I was too shocked to let her know that Emily was busy corrupting me (not that I was resisting) but whatever. I was a willing victim, whatever I told myself...

But I knew the pain of losing either parent would be sharp and deep for both twins. They'd also lost her cute but irredeemably perverted little brother too. Young James had many a long conversation with my tits back then. I'd heard the stories about his keyhole voyeurism, but when they briefly stayed at a caravan site in Bristol, after her Dad got into the shit with some Shylock bank, I found out first hand that Emily wasn't over egging the description. Finding a 12 year old boy sniffing your hastily discarded bra is quite the passion killer...I'll leave it right there, I think...

George carried on.

"So...we have assume that we're on our own for the foreseeable future, ladies and gentlemen. And that brings its own set of challenges. We will, of course continue to search and monitor radio traffic, such as it is, for survivors, but with very limited aviation fuel, and only a small food and fresh water store, we have to be ultra careful from now on. Beaumaris seems on the surface to be a rational place to base ourselves. Good defensive wall, just in case we have...err...visitors who are less than friendly and the capacity to store whatever we find on our scouting missions. We've been lucky"

He stopped and cleared his throat.

"And on that subject, I believe we need to start organizing ourselves a lot more. We need structure, discipline and a long term plan to get through this situation"

He turned to his left and smiled briefly at the weaselly guy sitting next to him. Richard, I think his name was. Me and Eff had nicknamed him Ratty, because of his constant sneaking around and furtive eyes. More than once, back at Valley, we had caught him hanging around the girls hut. I think he had his eye on Katie, which was a bit of a joke really. She wrapped 6'7" basketball players round her little finger. 5 foot nothing creeps like him had no chance. I doubt whether Katie even knew he existed. But he had the ear of Gorgeous George, so we just gave him a wide berth and laughed at him behind his back. But it seemed he had friends in high places.

"Richard has suggested that we retain the hierarchy of the military before the seismic events. That would mean my position as Senior Officer would remain in place. Any objections...? No...OK"

And that was that. George and his arse licking sidekick had voted themselves as God and his deputy. I caught Alex's brief look of distaste, but he masked it quickly as George looked his way. I made a mental note to have a chat with our helicopter pilot alone, very soon. The next words out of Georges mouth confirmed my fears about how much they'd already planned things out.

"The only remaining items are as follows. Allocation of labour, which I will leave in Richards capable hands...and the question of...social... pairing.

I swapped looks with Effy and Emily, who looked as puzzled as me. Pairing?

He looked around the group silently for a moment before speaking.

"With the disparity of males to females in our camp, there will inevitably be friction if we don't resolve this...ahh..problem at the beginning. I suggest we are completely practical about this. We have 11 men and 7 sexually mature women here. If there are any established couples here already, would you raise your hands now. Otherwise, it makes sense for us to pair you off now, by way of a ballot and an agreeable...night rota The future of the British Isles may well rest with us people. Procreation will ensure our survival and allow us to build a small population here which is capable of making it through the next generation. Its no time to be squeamish, we have a group of healthy males and several women of child bearing age..."

The stunned silence which followed that little bombshell lasted all of 30 seconds.

Then all hell let loose.

I stood up, swiftly followed by Emily, Katie, Effy and Maria. George had lobbed a hand grenade into our midst, but gay or straight, we were all determined to throw it straight back at him. The fact that we were all shouting at the same time made it impossible for anything to be heard, so I picked the small whistle out of my pocket I had found at Panda's aunt Elizabeth's and blew a piercing blast from it. Silence...

I cleared my throat and stared at George angrily. This was something my mum had taught me well. Accompanying her on endless protest marches educated me quickly on how to hold a crowd. I scanned the room first, seeing the nasty glint in Richards eyes and the hopeful looks in some of the other mens faces. I had a feeling something like this would happen, I just didn't think it would be so soon. Sure, I had seen the appreciative looks we'd all got from some of the airmen over the past weeks. We were all young, reasonably attractive females. And it wasn't as if we had much competition from the local population any more, was it? But fuck being farmed out as a comfort girl for lonely and horny troops. If any of us wanted to voluntarily hook up with a guy, that was another matter. But not like this...no fucking way. I cleared my throat again.

"I'm gonna speak for myself first George, because thats all any of us are entitled to do..._whatever_ our rank in a past life"

I saw his eyes narrow at that deliberate dig. Fucking desk jockey.

"But I see three major problems with the 'suggestion' you and Richard have come up with. First, this is still a free country, until somebody proves to me otherwise, and being sold off like plantation slaves was abolished over 200 years ago. Second, we might very well bump into another group of people soon. People who might well solve the 'problem' of the continuation of the species, as you so delicately put it. And third, and very importantly, from my point of view..."

I looked at Emily and Maria before continuing.

"...being pimped out to some horny soldier on whatever fucked up rota system you come up with is NEVER gonna happen to me...or at least two other female members of this group either. Because I'm 100% _gay_...and so is Emily...and...?"

I looked straight at Maria, who nodded at me (not before she'd shot a calculating look at Emily, mind) to continue.

"Maria too... So before you start issuing condoms, holding ballots and painting one of the rooms brothel red...you might want to consider that small fact"

I gave one more long cold look at George and Richard before sitting down. Suddenly there was silence again.

Effy and Katie nodded in agreement too. Katie stayed standing for a moment longer and snarled.

"And if you think coz Eff and I are heterosexual, its open season on my fanny or hers, think again losers. You fuckers are trying to box way above your weight, right?"

She stared around her defiantly and one by one, the men looked away. Katie Fitch in full flight is a sight guaranteed to make grown men tremble.

Satisfied, she sat down, arms folded...

"Well...thank you, err...Naomi...and...Katie, for your input. We will certainly consider your points of view" George said silkily. His face, and particularly his eyes, told a different story to his conciliatory tone, but I said nothing. I'd made my point...and the squeeze Emily placed on my arm was reward enough. Katie looked at me approvingly as someone else on the podium started droning on about work rotas and expeditions. I tuned them all out, even my friends. Something told me that George and Richard had thought long and hard about things before bringing it to a general meeting. I might have stalled their timetable, but some of the looks I was getting from the guys behind us told me I had only cock blocked them temporarily. As far as they were concerned, four ripe specimens of the female sex were going spare, and gay or not, they wanted their treats.

When the meeting broke up, I grabbed Effy, Katie and Emily, guiding them quietly to the small room on the top floor of the main tower. I had found it when Maria was closing up last night. It was a bit cold, a bit damp. But it had privacy, and we needed that now, in spades...

When the door was locked behind us, we gathered by the open window 50 feet above the cobbled courtyard and talked.

"Right..."Effy said, tight lipped. "I think we all know what Katie and Naomi said was just a holding statement. Those fuckers down there will keep on bringing it up. Gorgeous George and Ratty will offer us up like Sunday lunch to their favourites. Nothing like a bit of prime pussy to keep the troops in line. So...are we agreed that we need a plan?"

We all nodded.

"So...first things first" she continued "We don't get isolated. That way they can't pick us off one at a time. I don't think rape is uppermost in their minds, at least not at the moment. But if persuasion doesn't work, it might come to that. I know that cunt Richard has the hots for Katie..."

My sister made exaggerated gagging noises, which made us giggle quietly.

"...but he's capable of turning that into something much less pleasant, at least if he gets the chance. I don't know if you noticed, but that nurse...Maddie? was nodding when George unveiled his master plan. I'm guessing at least one of our horny squaddies has nailed her already. She probably figures if we all get conscripted into Georges pink army, she'll have less work to do on her back. And that kid...what's her name...?"

"I think its Francesca" Emily said quietly

"...Francesca, right. Well she might only be 15, but I saw her disappearing into the shrubbery with that fat guy who works in the kitchen. It looks like little Frankie has worked out that half an hour on her knees equals extra rations. It was always gonna be like this ladies. We just need to work out a plan to stop it. Or failing that, an escape plan. I don't fancy being locked in a bedroom, waiting for the next guy to get his fuck pass from Ratty..."

Again, we nodded in unison. The very thought of being pimped out by that upper class tosser made my stomach heave, and by the look on Emily's face, the idea terrified her.

"Ems..."I said softly as she clung to my hand with cold fingers "No one is going to touch you...I promise. I'll slice the balls off any fucker who so much as touches your hair, right?"

She nodded uncertainty at me. I don't think she was convinced, but it was the best I could do at that moment.

Two days later, I thought we had it sorted. We'd all got the occasional reproachful glance from certain airmen whilst doing our chores, but I figured if that was as bad as it got, we'd be able to muddle through until we thought of a better idea.

Francesca and Maddie seemed to be doing their best to keep the troops happy. I'd seen the older woman going off at night with at least three different guys now. I remembered my old mate Cook's comments about nothing being certain except death, taxes and a nurse. It made me snigger a bit until Effy told me off. As she said, as long as Florence Nightingale is taking the heat out of the situation, we should be fucking grateful. She was right, as always...

Little Frankie too was doing her best for king and country. I suppose if you're that way inclined, a succession of willing males isn't exactly a hardship, is it? They got to relieve their tension, while Frankie got extra portions...in every sense of the word.

Katie had shelved her usual practice of selecting one lucky victim from the herd and making his eyes cross with her undoubted charms. She knew that jealousy and male rivalry would surely follow. So she kept clear of the spare males and spent most of her time with Effy. Knowing Eff as I did, I wouldn't mind betting my mate had offered to scratch Katies itch herself. I have no idea if Katiekins was desperate enough to venture into muff territory yet, but if she was...Elizabeth Stonem was a gold plated certainty to live up to the hype. Personal experience, and all that?

Not that Emily had a clue about Effy's occasional journeys down fanny lane. I think, and fervently hope that my one off shagathon with Eff was safely locked away in the box marked '_not to be opened until after my death'_

Especially as me and Ems little 'chat' the night after Georges bombshell lasted just long enough for the door to be locked. Both of us were humming with horniness. It was pointless trying to resist it. Even being in the same room as Emily Fitch was enough for me. Her eyes, her lips, the little rasp in her voice...and don't even get me started on that body. Even at 16, she had something special about her. One flash of those dark eyes, a swipe of her tongue over her bottom lip and it was new underwear time at Chez Campbell...

And now we had several years worth of frustration to work off. I don't remember many details from that first night. There was kissing...lots and lots of kissing. Buttons popping, zips ripping, breathless moans and then cool, smooth flesh...yeah, lots of that too.

As always, she topped me after a few hungry kisses. That much hadn't changed since the lakeside, back in 6th form. I let her...or rather I didn't resist her. I remembered that night, so long ago. Kisses, undressing and then her tongue trailing down my stomach. I hadn't really known what she was doing then...not until she actually started..._doing_...if you know what I mean. No guy had ever gone down on me before. It was usually some sloppy kissing, followed by clumsy fingering and a stiff rod of flesh placed in my hand. A few desultory strokes of a largely clueless middle finger...then inside...wham bam, thank you ma'am.

But not with Emily. The shock of feeling her tongue exploring me down there was swiftly followed by the stunning revelation that girls know exactly what buttons to press. Her tongue was soft, but demanding. Her fingers gentle but insistent. Even at home, alone on my double bed, I had never, ever come so hard, or so quickly. I might have fled in the morning, when the realisation that I was actually a lesbian sunk in, but that night I found that I quite liked (OK, loved) pushing my fingers inside a compliant and soaking Emily Fitch. My tongue soon discovered her taste was as good as her tactile reaction. I returned the favour without a pause. Shame I had to go and spoil it by 'doing a Naomi' next morning.

But this night, in our locked room in the tower of the ancient castle, I had no such doubts. After Emily had comprehensively licked me to an eye popping climax, I took my time proving to her that she wasn't the only one who had worked on their technique. Watching her thrash and buck under me, moaning her delight to the night sky might just be the single most erotic sight known to humankind. Emily Fitch having an orgasm is something I felt privileged to see.

Lying beside her as she slept was, in a way, even more satisfying than sating our urges. Sex with Emily was always exciting, breathless and moreish. But knowing this small, dark haired creature, gently breathing next to me, was again mine trumped even that. Her fingers had held my own until she gave in to sleep. Then I had pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her until her breathing deepened. Mine...

Of course, the honeymoon to end. Not that Emily or I had anything at all to do with that. We had spent the days working on our chores, cooking, scavenging and doing laundry. It wasn't exactly a good use for my honours degree at Goldsmiths, but given our circumstances, it was all I could offer the group which was useful. A politics degree might be a bit surplus to requirements for the next 100 years, I guess.

Effy and Katie watched each others backs, as did Ems and I. We didn't discuss the elephant in the room much...we were too busy building some sort of life for ourselves in the castle. The men mostly left us alone. I did get the chance to talk to Alex, but he wasn't very forthcoming. He just advised us to go around in pairs and listen out for any plotting. Not very helpful. He was obviously pretty uncomfortable with George and Richards plans, but I think he knew he was in the minority. Most of the guys settled for the odd hungry look when they thought our attention was elsewhere, but there were a few muttered comments about fucking dykes and frigid bitches.

Katie, of course, was her normal reasonable, affable self.

Not.

When a particularly obnoxious mechanic called Ollie made some crack about her arse as we walked past him to the cookhouse, she reacted in classic KFF style.

"Keep your sad remarks, and your piss hole eyes to yourself, loser" she snarled, pulling herself up to the full 5'2" Fitch height "If you were the last stiff dick on earth, I'd rather fuck a tree stump...got it?"

He got it all right, but it was overheard by a couple of other airmen who were filling a barrel with water across the path. The looks they exchanged were very much not the friendly type. Effy muttered under her breath to Katie.

"I'm with you on the sentiment babe...but just ignore him. No point in bruising his feeble ego any more than we have to...we might need him onside later"

It turned out to be a typical Stonem piece of prescient logic.

Less than 24 hours later, I was the one losing my cool and Katie, along with Effy was the one trying to retrieve some sanity from a crazy situation. But it turned out to be a bit late for that. Mostly for me.

I swear I had only left Emily for 5 minutes. Time enough for me to barter some toiletries from Maria and get back upstairs to our makeshift hideaway in the west tower. Emily had just had a shower, and I was hoping to get some shampoo for myself. Things like that were harder and harder to locate in this soggy post apocalyptic world of ours. Most shop supplies had been ruined by the salt water and although we had trawled for miles around, on foot and in the Landie, we were still struggling to get enough food, water and other things to live on. Maria was a bit cool with me at first. Not surprising after I unceremoniously outed Emily and her to the group, but it was more a bit of the green eyes monster really. She hadn't said anything directly, but I knew she was pissed off about me hooking up with Ems so soon after blanking her . But she warmed up after a couple of minutes, and I swapped a whole pack of Benson and Hedges for a lovely big bottle of apple scented shampoo. I knew Emily loved fruit scented stuff...the memory of strawberry chap stick still gave me goosebumps from the kiss at Panda's party.

Climbing the ancient stone stairs to our room, I could hear the sound of struggling and muffled voices two flights up. I dropped the shampoo and scrabbled in my cargo pants for the only weapon I had. I had found it in what remained of a sporting goods store in whatever town we were next to. It was a wickedly sharp Buck lock knife, the blade about 4 inches when extended. It was designed to open one handed, which was just as well, as sprinting up damp 800 year old stone steps doesn't give much room for error. I bounced off the walls as I reached the top landing, bursting into the room with the knife held out in front of me . I had never stabbed anyone in real life...fuck...I had never even had a proper _fight_, but I was up for whatever I needed to do to protect my lover.

Against the other wall were two people struggling. Emily, trying desperately but unsuccessfully to keep the small towel she was holding around her body. And a hulking great guy...one of the mechanics, I think, who had hold of her other wrist, while his mouth slobbered disgustingly on her neck. In the other corner of the room, quelle surprise, stood none other than our friend Ratty, grinning like a skinny rodent as always. Emilys big brown eyes were wide with fear, and it was that, more than anything else, that made me lose it. Unlike me, Emily had been gay since puberty. No sticky fumbles with boys. No experimental blow jobs...no loveless one minute fucks against grimy pub walls. She was 100% gay, and these fuckers had just decided to change that fact by force. I screamed like a banshee, which froze everyone instantly. Then I saw the deep red finger marks on Emily's upper body. The big fucker had been pawing her already and my mind turned to stone cold hate.

I sprang at him. Even though he was twice my size, he wasn't expecting this I think. I knew in a straight fist fight, I'd last about 5 seconds, so instinctively I aimed low with a broad slash with the gleaming blade. It caught him right where I intended it to. His cock was already hard, tenting his pants as he no doubt relished the idea of fucking the life out of my girlfriend before giving Ratty his turn. Instead of that, the blade sliced through material and flesh alike in one vicious swipe. His eyes went from lustful to shocked and then agonised inside a second. I saw the blood burst from his crotch like a fountain and knew he was out of the game. I spun round, grinning with feral hatred towards the person I knew had instigated this. He was standing there, face white and hands raised towards me, just about no doubt, to make his fucking excuses. I heard the howl and thud behind me as Mr would be rapist crashed to the floor, trying to hold his manhood together. But I was crazy with rage. They'd meant to hurt Emily...rape her...and nothing on earth was going to stop me killing the devious fucker in front of me. I saw his eyes widen as I approached him on the balls of my feet, swinging the dripping blade from side to side. I could hear Emily sobbing behind me and rage surged inside me again.

"Say your prayers, fucker" I hissed coldly "I'm going to cut your throat and watch you bleed out on the floor"

"N...n..no!" He recoiled from me, his eyes searching for help around the small, musty room. But he knew no help was coming and his mouth opened to say something more...apologise? Beg for forgiveness? Who fucking cared, I wanted him dead and nothing was going to stop me.

Except something did. Even over the thudding of my pulse in my ears and the whining coming from Richard, I heard it.

"_Don't_"

Just one word. But it came from the only person in the world who could make me listen.

Emily

"Naomi, don't" she repeated dully "Its not worth it. I'm not...I mean they didn't...just stop before... OK?"

So I stopped advancing on Ratty and dropped my arm, with its wicked accessory.

And then it all went to shit of course.

In thirty seconds the room was full of people. Effy, Katie...who was holding my hand and making soothing noises as well as holding her sister protectively under her other arm. Alex, Maria, George...suddenly the whole population of England was in this tiny thousand year old attic room.

And twenty minutes later, I found myself in another room. Alone, locked in.

A prisoner

Attempted murder, George called it when they dragged me away from my room, from my friends...from Emily.

It wasn't attempted murder for long. Not when Sam, the big hulking engineer bled out and died ten minutes after I slashed him. No...now its murder, and guess who will be judge and jury?

**OK, thats it for now. If I only get one review for this chapter, it'll be a long loooong time before I update. Just saying...Its a lot of work, you know hahaha. I'm no Crevette, but it does take effort guys...lol**

**Review? Thank you so much!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This one will be a short chapter. By the end of the first paragraph, you'll know why. It had to be done. Don't hate me just yet...**

"Naomi Campbell. By the power vested in me by the people of this community, it is now my duty to pass sentence on you". The short haired pompous twat intoned solemnly "You admit by your own testimony the wilful murder of Samuel Gee. We have heard your mitigation, arguing that you only attacked him with the knife because he was allegedly assaulting your..err...same sex partner...Miss Emily Fitch. However, we have also heard from a credible witness... Mr Richard Mortimer, that this was not in fact the case, and that you attacked the deceased without warning or provocation because of your extreme jealousy when you found them, indulging in heterosexual activity together... willingly... he states on oath, I might add...unlike you, this witness was happy to swear on the Bible. We found his evidence far more compelling, which is why you stand here for sentence in this court of your peers. In this new world, we have no provision or capability for lengthy imprisonment for criminals. Therefore I feel obliged to sentence you in the only way which will send a message to anyone else considering taking the law into their own hands. You will be taken from here, tomorrow morning, to a place set out on the beach for the purpose. There you will suffer death by firing squad, your body afterwards to be buried at sea. Have you anything to say before being taken from this court to your cell?"

I stared at him in disbelief. Barely 24 hours had passed since the thing had happened. I still had the rapist thugs blood on my sleeves and in my fingernails. How the fuck had it come to this? One minute I was taking my lovers favourite shower gel to her, the next I'm in some sort of fucked up kangaroo court, being sentenced...to death?

I scowled at the impassive faces in front of me. George, fully uniformed and pumped up like a tailors dummy. Ratty, smirking from beside his benefactor. To the side of me, I could hear Emily sobbing and Katie trying to soothe her. Effy was muttering something obscene at George, but two guys with loaded and cocked pistols stood either side of our learned 'judge' and it would have been stupid for her to try anything

"Only this...are you having a fucking laugh, short arse?" I said icily, despite the tremble in my knees..."who the fuck do you think you are, setting yourself up as judge, jury and high executioner? This is a fucking stitch up, and you have all the pissing needles. That thug and your slimy sidekick were about to gang rape my girlfriend. I'd cut his diseased dick off all over again, if I could"

He looked at me as if I was something he'd found on his shoe after a walk in the woods.

"Nothing sensible then" he said coldly "Escorts? Take Ms Campbell down to the cellar. Its after 3 now and you will need to prepare. Select a firing squad and erect a stake on the beach. Lets get this sorry episode behind us and move on with civilizing the settlement"

With one last sneer from him and sly grin from Ratty, they got up and walked stiffly out. I felt strong hands pin me from behind. Emily screamed something incoherent, but Katie was already pushing her out of the door roughly. Effy managed to get close to me before they bundled me out of the other door, the one that led to the dank cellar I had been in since it happened. She whispered something encouraging, I'm sure, but I didn't hear it. My mind was screaming at me to do something, anything to stop this charade, but it seemed like I was frozen...numb.

XXX

I didn't sleep that night...I mean who actually can the night before their execution? Emily and Effy had apparently tried to visit me before...well...before it was due to happen. But it had been forbidden by the dynamic duo. The friendlier of the two goons sitting outside my cell had told me that with only a touch of relish, whilst trying to get one last look at my tits before it all became academic.

And the...almost before I knew it... the moonlight had faded and the first grey slivers of dawn crept across the brick wall of my prison. My last day on earth then? It seemed so ridiculous. Surviving the asteroid hit, the tsunami and all that followed. All so I could be shot to death on a bleak Welsh beach by so called 'friendly' executioners. For what? For saving the honour of my soon to be ex girlfriend...what sort of fucked up Alice in Wonderland world had we inherited?_

All too soon, I heard the clatter of heavy military boots in the corridor. My mind refused to believe what my eyes and ears were telling it. They couldn't shoot me...kill me...could they? Maybe this was just an elaborate hoax, designed to frighten the shit out of me...

Well, if it was, they were certainly cutting it fine to reveal the punch line. I felt my arms being wrenched behind my back roughly and a tight noose of plastic cable cinch tight around my wrists. I was propelled forwards, tripping on the stairs as I was led, not upwards, but down a twisting, winding stairway barely wide enough for two people. I hadn't even known it existed.

Suddenly there was the sound of the sea crashing on a shingle beach. We crunched along it slowly, me being pushed from behind. Apart from my guards, there was the sound of several heavy boots behind me too, the firing squad, no doubt. As we rounded a headland, after a few hundred yards, I could see it, just above the high tide mark on the beach. A bleached wooden stake, buried in the sand and stones. My last stand, I thought grimly. My legs started to tremble violently then and more rough hands supported me the last few feet.

XXX

As they fasten me to the cold wood, binding me around the waist and legs with thick rope, I search the beach for a familiar face...anyone I can see who isn't blank faced or hostile... Nothing. Not even one friend to see me out of this cold, sterile world.

Obviously they had chosen this place, this time to be deserted, empty, friendless.

Despite my stony face, I feel the tears start. It's all so unfair...I think about Emily, Effy, my mum, Panda...even daft old Kieran. Hardly anyone left to miss me now. It's been a pretty shit life, all in all...

Emily...I think...my love... Remember I always loved you. From the first moment I saw you...it was only ever you, my darling.

My last coherent thought is a hope that Katie and Effy would see her through this.

Then I am properly alone. The two goons who tied me to the stake, walk rapidly to one side, putting a good fifteen feet between them and the firing squad, who are lined up, avoiding my eyes, just checking rifles and sights obsessively."

I hear a strange voice from away to the other side of me. Anonymous, indifferent, official.

"Bless this sinner, Oh Lord" he recites

"May God have mercy on her..."

Before he can even finish the sentence, I hear the rifles rapidly cock and the barked instruction to aim and fire follow instantly.

A flash of yellow light and a brief millisecond of indescribable agony in my chest.

Then nothing...

...

**And thats that for this chapter. I never promised you a rose garden, did I? Happy endings?...seems unlikely now, huh? **

**Next chapter deals with Emily's pov and the aftermath. Hate me? Oh dear...**


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